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| In the defence of Salman Khan | ||
 What are the facts? To address just the London show to begin with, the media reports of its ticket sales has been steadily dwindling from "less than a thousand", to 600 to 300. Next no doubt we will hear that no one but the gate keepers were in attendance! According to actual fans who were there, however, there were several thousand waiting to be admitted when the announcement was made of the cancellation. If not poor ticket sales, then what was the reason for this cancellation? Salman extends his heartfelt and sincere apology to all his fans and the general public for the cancellation of the London show. The reason behind this unfortunate cancellation was an argument between the local promoter and the international promoter over some money owed by the former to the latter. All the stars of the show were present at the arena ready to perform when the promoters made a decision to cancel it. Salman wants everyone to make sure that they contact the local promoter and get their money refunded. He also would like to confirm that there is no further Rock Star event scheduled for the near future as being rumored. Once again Salman wants to extend his apologies to all and that he is tremendously disappointed that he and the other stars did not get to perform for their fans, which they were very much looking forward to doing so. So it is clear that it is not lack of attendance, but an excess of greed on the promoter's part that led to the cancellation. On the general question of whether Bollywood stage shows are losing their appeal to fans abroad, the answer is that it depends on the show and the stars. When the New York promoters held a promotional event with Salman to meet fans, they were shocked (and the security completely overwhelmed) when over 10,000 people came, while the promoters were expecting a few hundred. At the New York show, the promoters made an announcement that, with all the rumors that Salman would be unable to come, ticket sales were around 1200 in four days before the show. But, in the last four days, once people were convinced that Salman would indeed be there, they sold over 9000 tickets! So much for Salman's lack of appeal to the fans? Next, the question of Salman's "irresponsibility". One really wonders who is irresponsible here, the star, or the media who, if they weren't actually fabricating completely false stories and rumors, were certainly aiding and abetting those who were, by repeating every rumor without question or verification. To counter all these rumors, Salman not only came to the U.S. several days ahead of the rest of the Rock Stars team, but while there, he tirelessly gave his all to countering these lies about his not coming or shows having to be cancelled because of his absence. Let me tell you about one day of promotional activity by him, which I witnessed personally. Salman was on the east coast of the U.S, and did an online chat with his fans until about 1:00 am local time. He then flew off at 5:00 am to go to San Francisco on the west coast, arriving there in time for a 11:30 press conference and meeting with fans. After spending the afternoon in San Francisco, he then flew to Los Angeles, for further press conferences, interviews with local TV shows, and more meetings with the fans. When I left the fan event at 8:00 pm, he was still there. He left later that night, flying to Chicago and arriving in the early morning of the next day, where he was to perform that night. In all, he had been on the go and working for 24 hours continuously, and traveled a total of about 9700 km, or almost the distance from Mumbai to Sydney, Australia! And this was just one day out of the many he spent in ensuring the success of these shows. For those who do not have a feel for the geographic extent involved in traveling in North America, a map of his travels might give a better idea. Check this Compare it with the amount of travel done by his fellow Rock Stars. Check this It is clear by comparing the two that the others basically traveled to the cities where the shows were being held on the day of the show, and confined their promotional activities to whatever couldbe accomplished in that short time. Is this the behavior of a man who is irresponsible? And now for the last charge of lack of seriousness by Salman toward his professional obligations. From the very beginning, Salman has been very clear and explicit that his only purpose in doing these shows was to show his appreciation to his fans, and to do whatever he could to repay them for their support of him. To this end, he went wherever the fans were. He did not stay in the comfort and luxury of five star hotels or air conditioned TV studios, or even VIP dinners. He went to grocery stores, video shops, sari stores, and paan centers where ordinary people live and work. He did this braving, unruly and unmanageable crowds, with no or very little security, without considering the wear and tear on himself from the incessant criss-crossing of the country, risking his strength, his health, and his very life. At the end of the show in Chicago, about 30 overenthusiastic fans broke security and swarmed over the stage, imperiling Salman and the other performers. At the 'meet the fans' event in London on Friday night at a paan center, the crowd was so uncontrollable that he only left when they had broken open the glass window of the store he was in, and a riot seemed imminent. If Salman was not serious about anything, it was only about his own personal well-being and safety. Can you think of any other Bollywood star who would put himself out so unsparingly and for so little appreciation, not to mention vilification? That brings me, finally, to the role of the media in all this. Many years ago, they wrote a script that seemed to bring them box office success, that of the "bad boy" who was wildly out of control, and around whom no one was safe, with little talent and no fan following. From the beginning, they have been confounded by the facts, by his undiminished (indeed, increasing) popularity, his loyal fan base that cannot be convinced or persuaded to think him anything other than their hero, despite the best efforts of the media. Now it is time for the media to throw out that old formula, and try to understand reality. Many filmmakers in Bollywood have recently found that today's audience is not so complacent as the one of previous years, and cannot be fobbed off with old-time formulas painted in start black and white, totally unconnected with reality. Today's viewers are more discerning, and more demanding, and expect a fact-based portrayal of life and characters in all their complexity and veracity. The same can be said for today's readers. No longer are they confined to only whatever their local media choose to make available to them. Thanks to the internet, they have the entire world open to them at their fingertips, and can find out the truth for themselves, without filtering or distorting by anyone else. Of course, these same resources are open to the media. Even the most perfunctory search of the internet would have turned up documentation of the facts I have cited here. But even the World Wide Web is of no use to those with closed minds. Now I wonder, will this rebuttal of mine be published, or does "freedom of the press" mean only that those who own the presses are free to publish whatever they want, without challenge? | ||
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