How do I feel to be a film journalist and do I believe in the people I write about is a question that has followed me over the decades? I’m asked the same question time and again by family, by friends and by strangers and I have never found an appropriate answer.
Perhaps there is no appropriate answer for the illusionary world I’m associated with but what is ironical is that I always find myself defending the dream merchants for whom I am and will always remain the outsider.
I try as far as possible not to answer the question, not to tell them what I do for a living because once they know the context, they are consumed with curiosity about me and about the film world. The first reaction always is but you don’t look like a film journalist. Really? I mean what is a film journalist supposed to look like? I have never understood the implication or maybe they expect me to dress outlandishly in ostrich feathers like Helen and break into an item number and are disappointed that I don’t.
Whatever the reasons, it has to do with perception of the film world and if the perceptions are so unbalanced, then we as media need to do serious introspection.
There is a possibility that in our daily pressures to tell a story interestingly, we exaggerate words and images, spice up copies and titles for immediate attention and in the process, unknowingly present an unrealistic world to our readers.
The readers love this attractive world and live with the perception forever…!
Everything about show business is larger than life, the success and also the heartbreaks. There is a dark side to the glamour world that is not easy to endure and some like Sushant Singh Rajput submit to it, while others, the more courageous ones are battle the demons! Will they succeed, we don’t know, perhaps never will.
To be continued