Somewhere down the line, someone, who knows who, decided it was his lucky colour, his lucky shirt. And so it became -- forever pointed as evidence of his confidence, or the lack of, and god knows what else.
The blue shirt is not just the blue shirt. It is what our hunt for news has become. Frantic about details, rich in colour, and sometimes a little vain.
We in TV are forever accused of chasing the inconsequential, of 'hype', of spinning events out of nothing. And indeed, sometimes we do.
But when you think of the blue shirt and chase of Sanjay Dutt - is it as inconsequential as it seems?
Here is a star. A big star. A star who can carry film budgets of 160 crore rupees and more. A star, who at 47, has, and never will be more coveted.
Every now and again, he goes to court. He has been accused of being part of a conspiracy that led to one of the biggest terror attacks known to man. An attack that changed the fate and the contemporary history of perhaps India's greatest city.
He bears also the name of a great family, a family involved in two most lucrative trades in Mumbai - the movies and politics.
The judgement on Dutt has deep ramificiations. It will definitely, in many ways, also influence the way the deadly blasts are remembered.
Remember that movies stars and the movies are signposts to the journey of the period they exist in, they are bookmarks, they determine how we turn the pages, what we recall, what we forget.
You can of course say the same about the arts as a whole, but none as potent as moving pictures.
A blue shirt is not just a blue shirt, it can be a star feeling blue, growing colourless. A shirt becomes more than just a garment, it becomes a mood, a time, a reference point to pick up the pieces, string the thoughts. At times like this, clothing becomes ideas of what people are thinking, feeling, contemplating.
And yes, those accused of similar crimes must get the same treatment that Sanjay did but only if it is proved, beyond doubt, that the crimes were similar, the situations the same -- perhaps they are, perhaps, as Priya Dutt believes, the devil is in the details.
Is a movie star treated differently? We all know the real answer to that, don't we? It is - YES. Is it fair? NO. But is life? And do we usually feel the discrimination more when it involves a star?
YES.first published:February 08, 2007, 14:35 ISTlast updated:February 08, 2007, 14:35 IST
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In the last few months, I have spoken of the blue shirt more often than, well, more than the number of shirts I've ever worn. I have discussed it with morning anchors, with their charming grins, dupatta discussions between reads, and their yawn-filled studios, with afternoon anchors and their middle-of-the-day-bustle, and prime time faces with their we-bring-change earnestness.
Somewhere down the line, someone, who knows who, decided it was his lucky colour, his lucky shirt. And so it became -- forever pointed as evidence of his confidence, or the lack of, and god knows what else.
The blue shirt is not just the blue shirt. It is what our hunt for news has become. Frantic about details, rich in colour, and sometimes a little vain.
We in TV are forever accused of chasing the inconsequential, of 'hype', of spinning events out of nothing. And indeed, sometimes we do.
But when you think of the blue shirt and chase of Sanjay Dutt - is it as inconsequential as it seems?
Here is a star. A big star. A star who can carry film budgets of 160 crore rupees and more. A star, who at 47, has, and never will be more coveted.
Every now and again, he goes to court. He has been accused of being part of a conspiracy that led to one of the biggest terror attacks known to man. An attack that changed the fate and the contemporary history of perhaps India's greatest city.
He bears also the name of a great family, a family involved in two most lucrative trades in Mumbai - the movies and politics.
The judgement on Dutt has deep ramificiations. It will definitely, in many ways, also influence the way the deadly blasts are remembered.
Remember that movies stars and the movies are signposts to the journey of the period they exist in, they are bookmarks, they determine how we turn the pages, what we recall, what we forget.
You can of course say the same about the arts as a whole, but none as potent as moving pictures.
A blue shirt is not just a blue shirt, it can be a star feeling blue, growing colourless. A shirt becomes more than just a garment, it becomes a mood, a time, a reference point to pick up the pieces, string the thoughts. At times like this, clothing becomes ideas of what people are thinking, feeling, contemplating.
And yes, those accused of similar crimes must get the same treatment that Sanjay did but only if it is proved, beyond doubt, that the crimes were similar, the situations the same -- perhaps they are, perhaps, as Priya Dutt believes, the devil is in the details.
Is a movie star treated differently? We all know the real answer to that, don't we? It is - YES. Is it fair? NO. But is life? And do we usually feel the discrimination more when it involves a star?
YES.
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