BOUNCERS AS A STATUS SYMBOL!

BOUNCERS AS A STATUS SYMBOL!
-Ali Peter John

There was a time when I could enter the house or the office of any big or legendary star or icon without any hesitation and certainly not without any fear. Stars were to be loved and their fans who made them what they were could try to shake hands with them or at least touch the helm of their clothes or if they failed at everything else, they could at least touch the walls of their bungalows or touch their cars. But all that is like a once upon a time story.

The last time I had to vow not to go anywhere near a star or even a so called star was when I just happened to pass the car of a bodybuilder of a star who has done one and a half films. The car came out of a compound in Lokhandwala with the star sitting inside and being followed by his bouncers who were four in number and whose muscles and even the muscles of the back of their heads were stronger than the muscles of their boss. The bouncers tried to stop me even though I was not even aware of who was going or coming as I was more interested in getting into an auto to get back home as soon as possible because of my foot. One of the bouncers came up to me and asked me why I was following the car of his boss and I wanted to fire a volley of cuss words of the worst kind at the bouncers and their boss, I had to control myself because I realised that I was not as young as I was in those good days and I even imagined what could happen to me even if two fingers of one of the four bouncers had touched me.....

I had not attended a star-studded function in a long time and so I felt like attending the trailer launch of an actress who was once a paying guest next to my building and had faced some of the most humiliating scenes because of her married boyfriend. I reached the Mehboob Studios and I thought the Studio where I had spent half my life had been under seige. But, I was wrong. All those men with the most dangerous muscles I have ever seen in my long life were the bouncers of my one-time neighbour turned controversial but beautiful star. I still admire her both as an actress and a person, but even if the city is on fire (God forbid) I will not try to run in the direction where I may face my favourite actress and my most hated men who are her bouncers and have yet to have any reasons to show their bravery and courage and also think that of there are lakhs of girls who are much more beautiful than some of these stars who walk around the city even past midnight, then why should these paper and channel-made stars?

I was the organiser of a major function at which the God among stars himself was to arrive at my invitation. He was very kind to keep me abreast of the time it was going to take him to reach the venue. He finally arrived, but he was surrounded by bouncers all around him. I believed it was all the same between us, but it wasn't.

Like the good old days, I rushed towards him to welcome him and show him how much I still admired and respected him, but before I could reach near him, I heard him say, “don't come very close, Ali, they (meaning the bouncers) may harm you". That was the moment I decided that I would meet him only if he guaranteed me my safety from his dangerous-looking bouncers or gave me a bunch of black bouncers and with their bulging muscles and the naqli fire in their eyes to protect me till I met him.

Some days ago, I had the misfortune of being somewhere near an actress who is best known for the sexy roles she does in films and the more than sexy web-series she is a specialist in and I saw her bouncers running all around her car. Was she the queen of Swaziland for any other Godforsaken land?

And if you have to see these men from some land far away from where humans live in action, you have to be present at one of the launching or release functions which are the done things in these dangerous times!

As I write this piece in anger and distress, I wonder what kind of stars these are who are so very scared about the people whose love they crave and die for before they become whatever they think they are and once they have achieved their goal, they appoint devilsh bouncers in black to push, shove and even thrash the same people who made them the stars and legends they believe they are, without realising that one day, these same people who they disdainfully look down as the masses and the hooligans and potential terrorists or rapist will reject them, throw them out and leave them in dark corner where they will not need bouncers any more and they will crave for recognition again and the masses will not forget their cruel ways and will leave them to rot and have no reason to have bouncers, but will have to cry out for help and at least an iota of recognition which the masses will not care to give them.

Imagine genuine legends like Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, all the other Kapoors and Meena Kumari, Nutan and Madhubala travelling with black bouncers all around them!

Woh zamaana kuch aur tha aur yeh zamaana aur aur aur zaalim banta ja raha hai.

P.S-And what I say about today's stars also holds good for all our sewaks and pradhan sewaks who no one takes note of when they are nobody and who let the traffic go haywire and make men, women, children run for safety, crying out, “Sewak aaya,Pradhan sewak auya,bhaago,bhaago.