Thoughts on ‘Satyameva Jayate’

I have never been able to figure Aamir Khan out. One of the other Khan is a money-making machine, and the other is busy being human by killing blackbucks, running over people on the streets, and getting into catfights in the industry.

But Aamir Khan has always been a puzzle. Is he really what he is cranked up to be – a sensitive star, a star with a heart and a brain? Or is it just part of a carefully created image that he painstakingly etches out for himself ? In any case, I have no problems with the films he makes.

When I heard that he has spent 7 crores on the promotion of the TV show Satyameva Jayate, I smiled. A cynical, intellectual smile that hides more than it reveals. I was waiting for the first episode so that I could rip it to shreds and put up a funny post on my blog. I am highly skeptical of people who try to change the country through mass movements.

It’s been a week now, and I can’t think of much to criticise. I watched with a cynical eye, waiting to pounce on anything that I didn’t agree with. I was expecting a sentimental, sensational, tearjerker of a show with lots of slow motion and background music.

Thankfully, I was disappointed. The show is a well-researched show that relies on more than just publicity and the existence of a star as a host to drive home the point. It is also an honest show, and does not resort to gimmickry and manipulation of emotions.

Take the first episode for example. The shot of the boys who did not have any girls to marry was an outstanding point to show the repercussions of what will happen if female foeticide continues at current rates. Dispelling the myth that it is a problem in rural India was another clincher. Over all, it was a show that relied on facts, different perspectives, and knew exactly where to draw the line.

The best part was that the solutions he provided were democratic, fully plausible solutions that could actually do something about the problem. Khan also says that all of us should personally avoid killing a girl child. My main grudge against the Anna Hazare movement was that it was led by a man who has no idea of how things work in a democracy. “Abhishek Singhvi should be hanged if found guilty”. Kyun, bhai? On what grounds?? And no one spoke about how all of us pay off a cop on the road to escape a fine. A nation is its people. If the people do not change, what are you trying to change?

The fact that the show has been dubbed into various languages and is being aired on Doordarshan is commendable. I doubt anyone has had the balls to do something like that earlier.

There will always be critics. Like this intellectual who had problems with the fact that Coke and Reliance were sponsors for the show. One has to understand that a TV programme is a commercial product at the end of the day. The maximum that Khan could do was to request the companies not to feature ads with him, as that would dilute the message of the programme. How does one really have any control over what the advertisers say?

He also says that Khan shouldn’t have called one of the victims on to the show as she was a Muslim and this would give right-wing organisations further points to diss the minorities. For a secular nation, it is ironic that we cannot discuss a single topic without bringing religion into the picture. What a shame!

Then there are those who say that Aamir Khan is paid 3 crores per episode. He should donate that amount first. This is exactly the kind of thing I’d imagine Anna Hazare saying. Are you shitting me? SRK was paid 2.5 crores for hosting a show where people slip and fall into water. Hrithik Roshan was paid 3 crores per episode for a show where people dance to choreographed songs. If he has produced the show, he has the right to take the amount he deems fit, man. What’s the huge, fucking deal? And how profitable do you think it is to air something on Doordarshan? Or dub it into regional languages??

There will always be critics, picking holes and constructing theories. And then there will be those brainless Smart Alecs who claim on Facebook that they haven’t watched the show and somehow feel proud of it. Ignore them.

The show will not change the country. It will not end problems with a magic wand. If anything, it will increase your awareness about some issues in the country.

And for me, that’s a start.