Karan, you are right: It’s done, bro

Salman Khan is all of us when he asked Karan Johar in the first episode of the last season of Koffee with Karan ldquoAre you sure this is the last seasonrdquo And Karan said ldquoYes itrsquos done brordquo And I think thank godKaran introduced the show as one where celebrities spoke about their sex lives and put their foot in their mouths And I think he got that wrong That hasnrsquot happened since the first couple of seasons After that it has been a bore fest of celebrities avoiding all the questions Karan tried asking In fact the most interesting person on the show has always been Karan Johar He has tried asking the controversial questions and even sharing insider anecdotes But his guests have become more and more reticent thanks to the intense scrutiny that comes with saying whatever they sayBut as much as the celebrities fear Instagram and Reddit users who will take anything they say and tear it apart I feel they also fear the rest of the industry Why will they tell us who they have been intimate with or fought with or bited about They canrsquot afford to be iced out to be frozen out to be boycottedAnd thatrsquos where it really gets terrible Take for example this first episode with Salman Khan Khan was candid enough and seems smart and wise now He shares some interesting tidbits and his views are those of a man who has clearly been doing some shadow work But then slowly it becomes about Karan calling people on who wax eloquent about Salman Then he himself says ldquoOh you are awesome you are amazingrdquo and Salman keeps swatting aside the compliments Then Karisma Kapoor comes on and after a few behindthescenes kind of chatter once again it goes back to the same sycophancy Then they play Rapid Fire and even though Salman intellectualises every answer and is ldquodiplordquo diplomatic as Karisma says he wins the hamper Itrsquos been like this for the last few seasons where the show is just one constant barrage of celebrities building each other up There is nothing interesting discussed there is no new update there is nothing even remotely spicy to chew on Itrsquos the same Once in a while we get an episode with Katrina Kaif and Anoushka Sharma where they let their natural personalities shine through with some witty banter But that was also many seasons ago before they started letting the fear of being cancelled get to themBut what did we expect At a time when the whole country has shared how they are feeling about the political environment mdash be it against or for the government mdash the actors have remained silent Itrsquos because they mostly have nothing to say and if they did theyrsquod rather stay silent and let it all tide over Theyrsquod rather be safe Theyrsquod rather make money Theyrsquod rather behellip irrelevantThe reason why shows like Koffee with Karan were even invented was because the celebrities only want to talk about what they want to talk about And of course they want their egos to be validated Itrsquos no wonder that they have stopped talking to newspapers which may ask them questions beyond their intellect or courage No wonder they only do glossy mag interviews where whole texts are shared with them to edit as they wish or to influencers who are paid to ask and dance and laugh as the celebrities wishMaybe Karan knows thatThatrsquos why when Karisma asked him which celebrity he thought played safe on his show he said ldquoall of them last seasonrdquo And thatrsquos why he has decided this season is the last season Good on him I saySo stars of Bollywood have your last hurrah on the show this season Recount the same stuff as before and be on your way As Salman said very articulately ldquoDonrsquot carry your past with yourdquo No we will say goodbyeThe rest of you see you next week Ranting and raving about all thatrsquos trending on social media Aastha Atray Banan is an author creator podcaster and the Editor of your favourite weekend read Sunday midday She posts at aasthaatray on InstagramSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper