I am writing his after observing how Hrithik Roshan handled media with respect to his personal matter.
India is one country where a celebrity especially those from the film industry are considered as role models to the society. Over decades we have seen how star celebrities have been emulated by the Aam Janta in real life. But what happens in their personal life has become a reference point to many thanks to the rampant media. The burning issue for them has been their relationships and breakups.
Recently, two celebrity couples came out into the public. Hrithik Roshan announced that his wife Susanne wanted a divorce. On the other hand, actress Kalki Koechlin reportedly walked out of husband Anurag Kashyap’s life quoting both needed some time away from each other to sort things out. Point to note is, it is not about bringing their personal lives into public and making themselves an object of ridicule.
This honesty has actually made them quite endearing to the public. In the past, many incidents have happened. Sanjay Dutt left Rhea Pillai, Aamir had issues with Reena, Dimple Kapadia stayed away from Rajesh Khanna, same with Babita and Randhir Kapoor. A suspense still continues on the marital status between Karisma Kapoor and Sanjay Kapur. Same is the case with Ranvir Shorey and Konkona Sen.
In Tollywood also, the likes of Nagarjuna and Pawan Kalyan had their share of divorces but it was never revealed into the public. Speculations went rife for a long time before they died down. However, it is always those celebrities which are coming into the open about their relationships which is showing their credibility and honesty towards their personal life.
By being clear with their relationships and status, the celebrities can reduce the aspect of speculations and gossips to a large extent. But by keeping silent or getting into a shell it tends to damage their image and reputation built from a long time. It is true that celebrities have the right to protect their personal lives but the fundamental truth is, every celebrity’s life is partly owned by the people.
A celebrity is vulnerable by media and hence someone said 'popularity is sin'. But demanding media not to speculate their personal lives is ludicrous. It's practically impossible. It is always better to say what they wish to say and how they want to project their image to public. Hope celebs learn from the heroes like Hrithik.
(Usha Chowdhary can be reached at [email protected])
