DesiDabba - Boss, Thoda Sa Roomani Ho Jaye

Have you seen the supposed public message advertisement on TV, the one sponsored by the Samajwadi Party and featuring the legendary Amitabh Bachchan (or the ‘daamad’ of SP, whichever way you prefer to look at it)? Yes, yes…the one in which Amar Singh’s bade bhaiyya goes to great lengths to suggest that Uttar Pradesh is not the unruly state that we assume it to be, and that infact “UP mein hai dum…kyun ki yahaan jurm hai bilkul kum!”

Ever since I’ve seen that ad, and the many times I’ve suffered it over, I can’t stop laughing at the sheer ludicrousness and absurdity of the whole charade. And the reeking desperation. To quote Mr. Bachchan’s character from Dev, “Oh, the stench!” I don’t care how many interviews Mr. Bachchan gives and how many times he refutes any claim of his political link-up with the Samajwadi Party. I respect the man for his superb acting, his mastery of languages, his vast knowledge of all things relevant and his general presence. But even with that solid charm of his, Mr. Bachchan cannot expect us to believe just about everything he says.

His better half is the member of the said party, his son was infamously conferred the highest civilian honour of the Uttar Pradesh state (this, when Abhishek has always been a pucca Mumbaikar!) by the ruling SP and the first public appearance of the Papa, Mama and Beta Bachchan alongwith their to-be ‘sanskari’ bahu Aishwarya was neatly coordinated at an event conducted by the Samajwadi Party, in front of every top-ranking SP politician. And now this!

To be fair to Amitabh Bachchan, he is merely being loyal to his birth-state. What he needs to understand though, is that loyalty also means holding up a mirror. Denial and glossing over the realities is nothing but popular placating. And it’s going to achieve no good for his worshippers back in UP. As I’ve already said, Mr. Bachchan cannot expect us to believe just about everything he says. Uttar Pradesh is one of the least literate states in India. The law and order situation is possibly the worst in UP (with the sole exception of Bihar which is even worse!), and the events at Noida, Gurgaon and so many more before and after keep us reminding that regularly. The level of superstition and intolerance in Uttar Pradesh is also a constant threat. Women are still considered either goddesses or sex-objects, and female infanticide continues to be the number one cause of female deaths in the interiors.

You may argue that these problems are true in most other states (in varying degrees of course), and you’d be right. These problems do exist. But where I’m concerned is that you don’t see other states trying to hide those flaws and coming out with an advertisement proclaiming otherwise (read- blatant lies), let alone using the superstar of all-time to enforce it. Shame on you Mr. Bachchan!

P.S.- The money spent on the ad (I’m sure Mr. Bachchan will come out with a statement saying that he did the ad for free, just like the Bentley, Eklavya and so many other shams before!) could’ve been used to create better employment opportunities for the youth of Uttar Pradesh.