The Pathan song
By Justice Markandey Katju
I am not a puritan or a prude, and I too sometimes like to have some fun, but there is a limit to everything. Is this song not behuda ?
When tens of crores of Indians are living in abject poverty, and tens of crores are hungry ( India has slipped from position number 101 to 107 out of 107 countries surveyed by Global Hunger Index, and is behind neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh ), there is huge and rising unemployment, skyrocketing prices of essential commodities, almost total lack of proper healthcare for our masses, etc is it not a mockery and a cruel insult to our poor people? Is it not just like a drug to divert attention from their miserable lives and take them temporarily into a world of make-believe?
The Roman Emperors used to say: if you cannot give the people bread, give them circuses. Our film-makers, who are only interested in making money by catering to lascivious tastes, say: if the people cannot have bread, let them have films with sexy scenes and scantily clad women.
And this is a film being praised by many as a great film even before its release!
It is said that this song may be deleted, but why was it in the film in the first place?
I am not against it because of a saffron-coloured bikini or because I am against Shah Rukh Khan, but because it is simply behuda.