Aditya Sinha: When all goes right, it's wrong

PM Narendra Modi with Indian CEOs in Davos Also seen is jewellery designer Nirav Modi second row third from left PicPTIFor two weeks I have been hung out in Mumbai thinking how great it is to be cut off from Delhi No more anxiety about the polarisation of India the venality of its ruling class the banking systems holdup of the economy or about the triumph of capitalism over humanity No Now I worry about being cool enough for the 30somethings who control the creative process of the entertainment sausage machine Now I worry why no one is friends with each other or that I will be torn by petty politics on the sets I worry about keeping my gaze averted from the vast landscape of mediocrity and being a relatable team playerAn individual has no choice You cant do much about the politics because everyone seems to have taken sides and dug their heels in regardless of the merits or the fake news Nobody sees the absurdity of being in favour of or against the 2014 messiah if theres one thing history teaches us it is that political leadership is futile and failure inevitableWe are kept collectively impotent by events like the protest march on Friday in support of a 28yearold man in Kathua JampK who kept and eightyearold girl hostage and then raped and killed her The police have got his confession but that didnt stop a gang of rightwing baboons from throwing their weight behind him simply because he is a Hindu and she was not Contrast that with Pakistan where the 24yearold man who raped and murdered sevenyearold Zainab was given four death sentences presumably in case one got commutedWorse the JampK chief minister publicly attacked the protesters but not over their communal hatred she chose the safe option of lambasting them for desecrating the national flag If youre a Muslim in todays India you need oblique strategies to merely voice your anguishWhat about us mere mortals if we say anything a kindred rightwing gang will turn up at your door The police wont help you because the chief minister is from the BJP and in any case the police on the whole prefer an authoritarian approach to social management And the neighbours Well our current rulers have facilitated societys sinking to its lowest economic denominatorThe economic lethargy wouldnt matter so much but for the chutzpah of our scamsters That jeweller Nirav Modi was photographed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unsurprising for the more things change the more they remain the same All one can do is LOL along with the Twitterverse as new memes pop up including the photoshopped poster of the movie Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan with the words modified to yes you guessed itWhile driving through Khar I spotted a hoarding with a beaming Priyanka Chopra in an ad modelling for Niravs diamond jewellery Even she was photographed with the PM in Betlin last summer perhaps she really was doing her job as Niravs global ambassador regardless of what the catty word in Bollywood may be You have to hand it to her as soon as the Punjab National Bank scam broke out she announced she would sue Nirav for nonpayment of dues To paraphrase an old saying When the going gets hot the hot get goingOne Bollywood star I happened to gawk at gave me a class on the power of controversy He claimed that Padmaavat got R600 crore of free publicity due to the controversy again a misplaced one by some rightwing boneheads No a financier said it was R900 crore and he tallied the number of hours of TV coverage news space radio discussions blogs etc to prove his accounting They agreed that the film was mediocre and that had it been decent the box office take would have easily doubled It was near Rs 250 crore last week It is disconcerting to not hear about the anxiety and tension that this controversy produced but how did that matter in the larger scheme of things It is fashionable to give gyaan that lunatic rightwing groups like the Karni Sena and the Hindu Ekta Manch are just Indian manifestations of the global response to the existential crisis caused by the defeat of the individual But if capitalism has triumphed then these groups are not helping the individual they are only sealing her fateIn a way it is then a good time to try a different career If I get crowded out due to my age and lack of ruthless ambition it just means that all industries are the same Its worth a try and it makes sense since entertainment is a recessionproof industry And its far more fun to watch the politics on the sets than to watch it on the national stageAditya Sinhas crime novel The CEO Who Lost His Head is available now He tweets autumnshade Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates