Today I watched a short film called Bypass starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Irrfan Khan. You all know who Irrfan Khan is. However I am sure many of you must not be aware of Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Well all I can say is that he is one of the finest actors going around in Hindi cinema. To be completely honest even I did not notice Nawazuddin before Peepli Live. Yes he was in Shool (his debut movie). Yes he was in Munnabhai MBBS. Yes he was in DevD. But then how many of us notice and remember an actor who plays a five minute role of a waiter or a pickpocket in a movie. Its understandable that he started his career with these kinds of roles considering he does not look like a Greek god nor does he have a Bollywood dad (or mom or granddad). However seeing him living in a relative oblivion as opposed to other lesser talented stars, even after delivering one of the top two performances of the year (Faizal Khan in GoW2), does hurt. More than hurt, it worries me because it makes me ask myself, are we celebrating the mediocrity and venerating the mediocre? Otherwise, what else can explain Salman Khan being a superstar and Nawazuddin being an unknown character artist? Well stardom was never a measure of talent as in past and in other fields we have seen lesser talented people becoming bigger stars. Even in sports we have a Maria Sharapova who has a much bigger fan following than a certain Serena Williams. However, unfortunately in cinema, especially in Indian cinema, even the performances are rewarded on account of stardom. While in sports, Sharapova’s stardom will never get her a Wimbledon or Ronaldo’s endorsements will never get him the Euro Cup, Salman’s stardom will definitely earn him a Filmfare nomination for Ek Tha Tiger while Irrfan and Nawazuddin will have to be contented with critical acclaims for Pan Singh Tomar and GoW2 respectively. Compare this with 80’s when Amitabh Bachchan in spite of being a superstar would fail to win a Filmfare while Naseeruddin Shah would win 3 in a row. I wonder if we would have ever cherished Naseer’s performances if he had not been discovered in 80’s.
Hindi cinema is not the only reason for me to feel dejected as it has been letting me down since early 90’s. Ganganam style topping music charts all over the world is the reason why I have lost all hope in the current era. So are Kolaveri Di, Justin Bieber, Big Boss, Roadies, Kim Kardashian, Chetan Bhagat etc etc etc. Maybe it’s the 90’s hangover. Maybe it’s all because of growing up to A R Rahman, Michael Jackson, Bryan Adams, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Byomkesh Bakshi, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and all. I wonder if people growing up in 70’s and 80’s felt the same about 90’s and asked the same question which I am asking now. Maybe it’s a process and we cannot escape from it. If it is so then I am glad sport is one field in which I can find solace. In sports I will not have to feel sorry for a talent and I will get to see hard work and skills getting justly rewarded and appreciated. Oh and that reminds me I have to get up to watch Ricky Ponting bat at WACA for the last time. But for that I have to sleep first. So good night and take care. BTW enjoy BypassJ
