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This is my take on Shivay Singh Oberoi being presented as an Angry Young Man.
WHAT IS THE ANGRY YOUNG MAN?
So, if we look at the way the idea of the Angry Young Man came into literature and cinema, we can see that it was a reflection of the rise of a certain working class angst that came as a result of leftist movements and workers fighting for their rights after the Second World War in Europe, with the collapse of the structures of society in the after-math of the war and a certain crisis of civilisation that the European society was facing.
So what were the basic qualities of the Angry Young Man?
#A certain anger at systems of power that he could not break through because they were too powerful for an individual to destroy.
#A certain idea of rebellion without a cause. (This was the way mainstream art distanced working class angst from the organised workers' struggles--instead of a collective expression of anger at genuine systemic oppression, we see an individual trapped in a society where he feels alienated and thus rebels but doesn't know exactly what he is rebelling against.)
#A history of personal trauma connected to his class background that shapes him. This was an extension of the feminist movement which spoke about the personal as political. So what we have is the angry young man is someone who has had to go through a lot of personal trauma (father being someone who beats up his mother, being abandoned by his parents in his childhood, broken families, etc which is a reflection of a certain kind of class experience but is presented as an individual's experience that in someways cripples him emotionally and becomes an obstacle to his development as a social individual.)
If you look at Bollywood as well,you can see the way Amitabh Bacchan's version of Angry Young Man is also an extension of similar social anxieties and angst.
WHAT IS GUL KHAN'S IDEA OF THE ANGRY YOUNG MAN?
But what does Gul Khan do? Her Angry Young Man has evolved over her many shows.
So if we look at Maan, he is somewhat of a self-made man. He has struggled to make his millions, is not born with a silver spoon and is traumatised by his past and hence shuts himself up emotionally from the world. Betrayal that he has faced is from a woman, and so he responds like Hamlet in that he feels all women are bad. He wants everyone to be the master of his or her own destiny because he himself has shaped his path to success.
What about ASR? ASR is born into a feudal family. We must remember that his father is something like a zamindar. The class background obviously sets him apart. However, he too like Maan, has had to build his own fortunes since he had been robbed of his inheritance by his uncle after his father's death. He lays claim to the title of 'self-made man' and 'master of his own destiny' because of this history. However, his own class background and the fact that he feels that his parents' death was brought about by someone from the 'middle class', he harbours a hatred for the middle class (especially women) and feels that they do not want to work but rather feed off the wealth of those who have it. His own path to success does not seem to have taught him the fact that the middle class (that comprises a significant part of the work force of any country) has to work in order to earn money. It is the aristocracy that actually feeds off the labour of the middle and working class. Anyway, his trauma in some ways blinds him to the reality of middle class life.
SHIVAY SINGH OBEROI--THE ANGRY YOUNG MAN?
And SSO? SSO does not have any particular history of personal trauma. He did not make the money he enjoys. His grandfather built this empire which means, he is the third generation and thus was literally born into this wealth. In the show we never see him actually work. So actually he is literally feeding off the labour of his employees. The one time we see him give his employee (Mishraji) who obviously works much harder than him a raise, it is in a state of intoxication and the moment he is sober, he denies giving the raise. So, he is the one who grabs the largest part of the profit that is made by the labour of his employees.
He is naturally concerned about class and name. Because he is a representative of a certain privileged class of people (what the OCCUPY movement would call the 1 %), he knows that he is the minority and must jealously guard the walls that separate this minority because he does not want to lose any of the wealth and power that comes with it. He is against the distribution of wealth and a democratic society( or even one that is more equal) because in his mind he feels this immense wealth is his natural right.
He is entitled to this wealth and power and the world is there for his consumption and use. (Think of Donald Trump's speeches about migrants and immigration and the desire to build the WALL with SSO's ideas of the 'Lakeer' that exists between classes)
He uses his employees to maintain his wealth just as he uses Anika to maintain his reputation. He does not go to jail because of her, he does not become a laughing stock of the media after Tia's running off because of her. In both cases, her fall allows him to rise.
In the light of this, I don't think we can be shocked at the way he behaves with Anika because that is just how he is. His very upbringing makes him someone who thinks he can get away with ANYTHING. It is ONE RULE FOR HIM AND HIS CLASS, A VERY DIFFERENT RULE FOR EVERYONE ELSE.
She is his to use, just as everything else is.
SO IS HE AN ANGRY MAN?
Now that is my analysis of his character. So where does he figure in the spectrum of the Angry Young Man? I would say this is a complete appropriation of the idea of the Angry Young Man by a certain capitalist propaganda machine where the very class background of the AYM is changed and distorted.
He is shown as someone who has a temper. And that alone is the only qualification he possesses to claim to be an Angry Young Man.
He has no anger at the system. In fact, he supports it and upholds it. He will do anything to maintain the status quo. He is against the breakdown of this system. So in effect he is radically opposite to the idea of the Angry Young Man whose main angst arises from his alienation from the systemic structures he finds himself in.
His charity is a false generosity because he does not want to create a more equal society by giving a miniscule part of his wealth. He is actually displaying his power to give through his charity.
He wants to maintain the structures that make people like Mishraji or Anika dependent on him. Just as he refuses to give Mishraji a raise, he refuses to let Anika maintain her independence (selling off her house, not allowing her to get the catering tender). He does not want Mishraji to become financially independent enough to open a separate company that would become a rival to his and thereby rob him of a section of his income. Similarly, he does not want Anika to become financially independent since that would allow her to challenge his social and financial domination over her.
This is not a rant, as you might have realised by now. This is an analysis of a certain kind of world view that the dominant class in our society possesses-- the 1 %.
If you share this world view, then SSO is your hero.
If you do not, then he is bound to raise your hackles.
I personally, believe in a more egalitarian society and so he is not my cup of tea. But that is my opinion.
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