Dear Media, Shakti Kapoor’s Quip On Tanushree Dutta Wasn’t Funny!

For what is more cheap than making a wisecrack, is the thumping laughter that accompanies the “joke’’.

The laughter that follows says a lot more than the comment itself.

“Das saal pehle… mai to chhota sa bachcha tha…’’ – Shakti Kapur.

Hahahahahahahaha...

“Na toh mera naam Tanushree hai na Nana Patekar...’’ – Amitabh Bachchan.

Woooohoooohooooo... clap, clap, clap.

“This is a sporting event, be sporting.” – Salman Khan.

Huhuh huh huh... clap, clap, clap.

Perhaps the most unsettling thing about the mythological darbaar where Dushasan humiliated Draupadi was how much his cronies enjoyed it. No amount of yellow silk unravelled on Mahabharat Katha on Doordarshan made you feel as outraged like the laughter of the Kaurava clan did.

Their coarse guffawing, their haan mein haan milaana with the most powerful man in the room at the moment, made everyone’s moral compass weak, their gut wobble and their personal opinion irrelevant. Such is the appeal of the star of the moment, that even if he is talking bulls**t from the pulpit, he will be lauded by those around him.

Ironically, many of those very same people would return to their desks to file articles panning the comments.

Not to quote from the Mahabharata itself, but to quote ‘time immortal’... ‘samay’... on the televised serial on Doordarshan:

“Yeh nirnai, vartmaan aur bhavishya ki har vyakti ko lena hoga, ki swayam voh, mariyaada rekha ke is paar hai, ya uss paar hai (Every man born and unborn has to decide on which side of the dividing line he stands).”

They knew this hundreds of years ago, they knew this in the Doordarshan age as well. Do they know it now?

Clearly not.

For what is more repulsive than ducking behind feigned ignorance, more cheap than making a wisecrack, is the thumping laughter that accompanies the “joke’’.

Everything that surrounds sexual misconduct allegations, even the sound bites from celebrities, highlight the several powers at play. There is plenty of media fodder to be had but what those present at the press conferences didn’t realise was that they might have been unseen, but they were certainly heard, and that laughter made them part of the story.