Salman Khan is in the middle of another Olympic-sized controversy. But why is he in it in the first place?
Is Salman Khan qualified to be Goodwill Ambassador of the Indian contingent at the 2016 Rio Olympics? His father Salim Khan certainly seems to think so. In a tweet battle with Milkha Singh, who objected strenuously to the appointment, Khan Sr. declared – with disturbing disregard for punctuation, given his reputation as a famed screenwriter – “Salman khan may not have competed but is an A level swimmer cyclist and weight lifter.” Well, that. And the fact that Khan Jr. looks like a wrestler (indeed, he plays one in his upcoming film, Sultan), and appears to be an ace gymnast as well, given his preternatural ability to slip between the front and rear seats of a Toyota Land Cruiser. Khan carried that little girl for a good part of Bajrangi Bhaijaan, so one supposes he’s something of a weightlifter too. Heck, given his clothing-optional stance in his films, a strong case could be made for Khan’s connection to the Olympics: after all, at one time, competitors were required to be nude.
But the backlash is understandable – even necessary. And not just from sports fans. Salim Khan objected to Salman being labelled a Bollywood star. (“Milkhaji it is not Bollywood it is the Indian Film Industry and that too the largest in the world.”) But one rarely finds representatives from the regional film industries in these events. It’s either Amitabh Bachchan singing the national anthem before a Twenty20 World Cup match, or Aishwarya Rai attending the opening ceremony of the 20th Commonwealth Games in Scotland (“her lustrous locks tied in a high bun,” ran the breathless PR prose). Adding to the giddy Bollywood-ness of it all, Rai has come out in support of Khan, her ex-boyfriend. She said, “Anybody who is doing good to represent the country and anybody who is working or seeking or standing out for whatever vocation we have in the country, be it sports, arts or music, I think that’s wonderful and needs to be recognised.”
But who, exactly, is the recognition for? Given our celebrity-crazed times, the latest Salman Khan controversy has already grabbed more attention than Dipa Karmakar, the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, and Dattu Bhokanal, who qualified for the sculling event. How dispiriting that representing India at the highest level of international sport is still going to get you fewer headlines than if you are a big star who needs no more headlines to further your career. No wonder cricketer Gautam Gambhir was so outraged, saying he’d have been happy if someone like shooter Abhinav Bindra, India’s first winner of an Olympic gold medal, had been picked for the post. “There are a lot of sportspersons who have done a lot for sport,” Gambhir said. “Ideally, one among them should have been given that responsibility.”
There are those who feel that star power works, because stars bring attention to sports. But what sport are we talking about? It’s not as though Salman Khan has sponsored a kho kho team, directing the nation’s eyes to the small sport, the way, say, Aamir Khan drew our attention to dyslexia with Taare Zameen Par. It’s not as though Khan has agreed to take on even a fraction of the training costs for Dipa Karmakar or Dattu Bhokanal, as they consider going abroad to hone their technique. Of course, Khan isn’t required to do this. The expectation comes up only because of the question: What has Salman Khan done to deserve this honour? Khan said in a recent interview that more people have begun to watch cricket after film stars got involved in the sport, and that his role as Goodwill Ambassador will draw new viewers to the Olympics coverage on TV. But will these viewers be tuning in to watch the sports or Salman Khan?
It’s nothing new to have a celebrity lend his or her name to hard-sell topics. (Let us assume, for just an incredulous second, that the Olympics are a little-known undertaking that we’d never tune into were it not for Salman Khan.) George Clooney, for instance, speaks about Darfur. But has he made a difference? In December 2014, The Guardian, in a story titled What happened to Darfur after George Clooney came to town?, asked locals whether Darfur needed another global campaign. A North Darfuri said, “Yes, for sure, but not just a media or celebrity campaign. It should be led by the major powers in the UN Security Council to pressure conflicting parties to reach a comprehensive and just peace.” In other words, star power can only do so much. If more people watch cricket today, is it because of the excitement around IPL and T20 or because the camera keeps cutting to Preity Zinta? And we were already a cricket-crazy nation. How much have stars helped in the case of Pro Kabaddi?
At the end, people look at stars because they like looking at stars. If they ended up doing what stars asked them to do, then no one would be smoking, literacy levels would be at an all-time high, and everyone looking for a vacation would be boarding a flight to Gujarat. And to have such a controversial actor at the centre of India’s Olympic campaign not only detracts attention from the sportsmen and sportswomen who are the rightful stars, it demeans their contribution, their individual ability to make us care about their winning or losing. But India being India, we have not seen the last of Bollywood being called on to awaken our benighted selves to other less popular aspects of Incredible India. Here’s an appeal to Priyanka Chopra to revive Gond art, Alia Bhatt to tell us why ISRO is so awesome, Akshay Kumar to take Carnatic music to the North, Shah Rukh Khan to crack open a book of Upanishads…
An edited version of this piece can be found here.
Copyright ©2016 The Hindu. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
sanjana
April 27, 2016
Very well written. Yes, why not someone from the south? There is Ashwini Nachappa who is both in sports and films. Not to forget legendary P.T.Usha.
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abzee
April 27, 2016
My outrage could not have been voiced in a more succinct way. Those closing lines especially are worth their weight in gold. Thank you.
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hattorihanzo4784
April 27, 2016
brutal.
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venkatesh
April 27, 2016
Only in India can something like this even happen.
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Vikram
April 27, 2016
Very well-articulated BR….that line about gymnastics and the SUV…priceless…
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Shantesh Row
April 27, 2016
Celebs in sports. Celebs in films. Celebs on TV. Celebs in parliament. Celebs on goodwill missions. Celebs in newspaper headlines. Have had enough. Can India be ‘celebate’ now (pun intended)?
Ps: will make an exception to hear Alia Bhatt spout ISRO talk. That should be extremely interesting
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sanjay2706
April 27, 2016
1) Celebs seem to want a share in everything. There was a time when they didn’t want awards. Now they seem to want awards, they want to do things they aren’t good at. Prime example is the recent “Natchatra league” played by Tamil cine stars. Why play cricket for a fund raiser? They could have done those “Singapore Malaysia nigazhchi” which used to be good. I get a feeling that playing bad cricket is easier and the returns are better. Why bother writing new material or practicing for a dance performance?
2) Would Gautam Gambhir have spoken out if SRK was the ambassador? Probably not
3) Time for Icons like Sachin Tendulkar and MSD and others to speak up. Their star power in sport can get these issues highlighted in a way that a gambhir or a Nehra can’t ( sorry thalaiva Negra 😛 )
4) With biopics of Dhoni,Azhar and Sachin hitting the screens this year, looks like the wrath of “Cinema and Cricket” would not leave us. They were separate entities before, now we have combined both and made a Frankenstein out of it. 🙂
Sanjay Madhavan,
http://thecriticscut.wordpress.com
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An Jo
April 27, 2016
First of all let’s be sure whether it’s Salman or the driver doing the honors at Rio..
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Naveen
April 27, 2016
BR, stars want more and more publicity. common man wants more and more of the stars. you get what you deserve
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Prakash Srinivasan
April 27, 2016
It was sheer arrogance the way Salim & Salman Khan reacted to the criticism. Moreover they were belittling the monumental achievements of Milkha Singh by taunting him. As someone wrote how could they make a criminal/convicted person who has killed humans & animals alike, become a mascot for a Global popular event like the Olympics. Is Salman the best we have for such a Global event? Shame on us.
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hattorihanzo4784
April 27, 2016
also they printed this article in the space which is reserved for the editor’s main piece in the opinion column of the hindu newspaper. surprised seeing this in that corner. but the quality of the article deserved that space. so well done.
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Jyoti S Kumar
April 27, 2016
Ouch, that was quite scathing BR sir… And when did Bollywood become the Indian film industry… So is tolly/tolly/Molly/sandalwood etc not part of India? Hmph!
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praneshp
April 27, 2016
You know what? I prefer the Bollywood style of actors becoming sports ambassadors to Kollywood sons-of-actors entering politics.
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apala
April 27, 2016
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Chanakya
April 27, 2016
Well, Bhai is a top notch shooter. He once shot bucks without wasting a bullet. Also a world class driver. He can drive not just on roads, but on pavements as well. Wait.. that’s his driver! So what more does he need to do to prove his worthiness? Does he have to throw a javelin into one of those plebs in Dharavi slum? He’ll do it. Bhai is a playa!!
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olemisstarana
April 27, 2016
That this murderous, misogynist, tax-evading, woman beating, people mowing, animal poaching poor excuse for an actor should lead our underfunded, ignored, step-child, unprivileged Olympic contingent is oddly appropriate. No disrespect to the sports persons who made it that far by sheer moxie, they certainly aren’t supported by the vast swathe of our blinkered cricket loving populace. This is just a very bleak, in-your-face reminder that no one gives a shit about the sports persons themselves. That and Salim Khan… his head is so far up his ass I’m surprised he isn’t sneezing polyps. Who makes these decisions? I’d like to know his/her/their name(s). Which smug bureaucrat got bought this time?
Thanks for articulating my rage stroke so… articulately.
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Apu
April 27, 2016
Bless you BR, so well put.
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Poorni
April 27, 2016
Semma writing! Loved every line. That prenatural ability line was killer stuff- prompted me to fill in this silly form just to comment.
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Yoganand Netrakanti
April 28, 2016
In the on-screen itself our actors and sportspersons play strange roles. Then why can’t they play strange roles off-screen? Every actor is involved in a controversy or other. Why blame Salman Khan alone. Even other two Khans are also mired in controversies. Instead of sending film actors why can’t there be a person from a non-film, non-sport world be a goodwill ambassador of the Indian contingent at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Why can’t Indian Foreign Service officers serving in Rio join the Indian contingent? In what way the cine glamour and glitch can help to bring medals, not necessarily gold and silver to the Indian Olympic contingent? We are not only “cricket-crazy nation” but also cine-crazy nation. Both cricket and cinema start with ‘c’.Remember the Pepsi advertisement featuring Sachin Tendulkar and Shahruk Khan. The bond is very special.
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sanjana
April 28, 2016
apala, that video is simply hilarious. And bhai inspired it.
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apala
April 28, 2016
Bravo BR-ji, Bravo!! Well put.
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Rahul
April 28, 2016
Since milkha singh = farhan akhtar, so this could be a continuation of the salim javed feud.
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Nee
April 28, 2016
“Here’s an appeal to Priyanka Chopra to revive Gond art, Alia Bhatt to tell us why ISRO is so awesome, Akshay Kumar to take Carnatic music to the North, Shah Rukh Khan to crac4k open a book of Upanishads…”
This being India, I won’t be surprised 🙂
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Bunny
April 28, 2016
Totally agree with you. My only concern is that would we have said the same thing if Anurag Kashyap or Mohan Bhagwat ji were chosen as the ambassadors instead? No way.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
April 28, 2016
BR : Crackling article by a writer in crackling form. This would be Game Set and Match in any debate.
Having said that I also tend to agree with Naveen “stars want more and more publicity. common man wants more and more of the stars. you get what you deserve”
Just for argument’s sake can we say that the Salman controversy led 10% more people to actually check out Dattu Bhokanal ? I seriously doubt our cricket crazy nation would have given a damn anyway even if Abhinav Bindra had been selected as the brand ambassador.
Again – awesome writing
https://thezolazone.wordpress.com/
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brangan
April 28, 2016
Via email…
S Narayan Rao: Hi, Mr. Baradwaj, This is for you sir. understand and then write stories, would be the much better.
No human is a human being if he can’t celebrate others success, no game is a game it would be fake game if it couldn’t bring human being together. That’s all about Olympic is about and it is, a game is made for entertaining a movie is made for the same purpose then why this speculations going around. A culture couldn’t be completed if its start thinking like us. That’s what makes great the old culture and thoughts of a writers. No one now a days can be a Kali das or Kabir the reason is simple they never Slam others. They believe in bounding the relation of humanity. But modern writers thinks different. They write to divide people 1st and then nation. Salman is a proud star of our country. No human in this planet who don’t do mistakes. People do but who comes back home with great feelings and with pure clean heart we should not feel bad about that personal Infact we should always give an opportunity to get involved in all activities of our society to show himself that he is fearless and has everything on him to prove himself right and others wrong.
Salman Khan may not have competed but is an A level swimmer cyclist and weight lifter.
I don’t believe the fact of sport, film star or anything which we brought in this world to make our life more entertain. What I mean to say that films we all watch, movies we all see and any other activities in this world less or more people watch it or play it just for entertainment,
I was shocked Yogeshwar Dutt pins down Salman Khan, sports fraternity divided – I would like to ask him How many human being in India and aboard knows Yogeshwar Dutt, he said
Everybody has a right promote movies anywhere in India but Olympics is not a place for movie promotions. What is the role of goodwill ambassador, Can anyone tell me? Why are you fooling the public? he wrote.
Is that true?
Before this Olympic also his movies rocked the screen we all knows he no need to promote his movie and he not went to the IOA to get this brand ambassador proud, they thought that he could promote the game and they made him.
He is a fool I guess. How he can say that even. His one more comment is more than trouble for us.
“We have sportspersons like PT Usha and Milkha Singh who have strived hard for the country during difficult times. What has this ambassador (Salman Khan) done in sports.”
PT Usha,Milkha Singh jaise bade sports star hai jinhone kathin samay me desh ke liye mehnat ki. Khel ke kshetra me Es ambassador ne Kya kiya
It’s not about what he does for sport. He does it for Indian film industry because he is a film’s star, what no sport personality ever came to Indian movies or what Sachin is making movie why? He can’t release his book he did but it was not successful, time to run together not to see what genre from this personality is. Lots of bio pick and lots if story related to the sport has be directed. Like marry kom and lots but Mr. Dutt getting only Bronze medal is not gonna help the country we need gold but you are not worth of it because only a pure heart can get pure gold in Olympics.
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brangan
April 28, 2016
Via email…
Ajit Kadam: Sir, I read your article in today’s The Hindu. Very good and eye-opener for those who blind support Bollywood stars.
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sanjana
April 28, 2016
Bunny: It would have been the same cry if Amitabh or Aamir or Narayan Murthy or Ambani were selected. And to add Salman has a criminal record still pending. Only media wants stars. Not the general public. Otherwise instead of Modi, Bachchan would have been the prime minister. I am not talking about tamilnadu politics here. They are a special case.
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brangan
April 28, 2016
Via email…
Madhavv: Sir, Your dissection of the issue re: Salman Khan being appointed “goodwill ambassador” to the Olympics is outstanding! Goodwill ambassadors are meant to be like diplomats – people who travel the world and speak up in support of a cause, usually one that is of a humanitarian nature, like women’s welfare or disease prevention/cure. In yesteryears you had stars like Audrey Hepburn do, today it is Angelina Jolie.
By that measure, what “cause” is Salman going to speak about and generate goodwill? Is he going to appeal to the people of India to watch the Olympics – and if so, what would they get to see? A few events in which Indians will participate, but mostly the advertising that accompanies the telecast. So effectively Salman is being appointed goodwill ambassador to increase viewership of the Olympics, which will directly benefit the advertisers. I can see Salman’s beaming face and his bulging biceps urging people to tune in for the events while sipping on a Coke or eat a Big Mac or promoting some other product.
The sportspersons have the right to feel offended, and Salim Khan’s tweet about how Bollywood made Milkha Singh a household name is absolutely ridiculous. His son is already a household name by showing how he was able to wriggle his way out of the clutches of the law. I suggest we make Salman Khan the goodwill ambassador for Formula 1 racing in India – he can speak very credibly about getting oneself out of a crash unscathed! Or maybe how to shoot a black buck or two? I’m sure Abhinav Bindra will be impressed with his marksmanship!
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brangan
April 28, 2016
Via email…
Partab: hi baradwaj, liked your piece in the oped page today. you took a bold and forthright stand on the issue and that’s the way to go. you have a neat turn of phrase and i particularly liked the way you ended the article. cheers.
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brangan
April 28, 2016
Via email…
Yajnya Datta: One of the best articles i hv ever read sir. Kudos to ur ability of balanced criticism. It was really awesome. Hats off to u..The line “ability to slip between the front and rear seat” made my day. Thanx again for the master piece
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Lavanya
April 28, 2016
Super writing sir!
Whatsapped it to my friends on the other side of the world.
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Hermoine Granger
April 28, 2016
True. We seem to need Bollywood everywhere. A smaller but still annoying example was the recent Vikram-directed uber looong (10 min) Chennai floods video which featured Abishek Bachchan at the end. I’d have appreciated if they felt the need to call Sridevi or someone remotely connected to TN. Abishek Bachchan is the ideal Tamil kudimagan, I guess.
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JPhil
April 28, 2016
Hear hear,feisty sir
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Hermoine Granger
April 28, 2016
I’m not surprised we need Salman Khan to bring “awareness” of Olympics. The issue you have pointed out is only indicative of a larger social problem. While we applauded the photo of ISRO’s women scientists clad in kanjeevarams and proudly updated our FB statuses, what have we heard about them since then? A brief team profile or two before getting back to cinema and politics. As an educated Indian citizen, I’m ashamed to say that I had not even heard of Kailash Sathyarthi before he won the Nobel Prize (and too much after, either). I came across a recent interview of the famous former child swimmer Kutraaleeswaran, who gave up the sport to become a regular tech guy who finished his masters in the US. Not so much encouragement and financial support for his swimming, he says. From a Tamil television audience standpoint, I only see the same movie stars interviewed again and again for Pongal, Deepavali and the likes. All else is invisible.
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tws
April 29, 2016
Thank you, thank you, thank you for expressing our collective outrage so well.
If we’ve gotta have Bollywood as our goodwill ambassador, surely there are better choices, people whose lives are more in line with the Olympic ideals of peaceful and friendly competition. Or at least, not at complete odds with it. Heck, I’ll even vote for Alia Bhatt. Even if she goes “what’s a javelin?”
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sanjana
April 29, 2016
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/sports/other-sports/IOA-approaches-Sachin-to-represent-India-as-Olympics-brand-ambassador/videoshow/52036666.cms
IOA approaches Sachin to represent India as Olympics brand ambassador
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Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)
April 29, 2016
Thoroughly enjoyed this piece!
Here’s an appeal to Priyanka Chopra to revive Gond art, Alia Bhatt to tell us why ISRO is so awesome, Akshay Kumar to take Carnatic music to the North, Shah Rukh Khan to crack open a book of Upanishads…
Why not Kareena and Sonam Kapoor? (to endorse laptop brands and give acting tips, resp.)
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Bunny
April 30, 2016
@Sanjana: Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan are in the same bracket as Salman Khan: lowbrow, mainstream actors; hence, the public’s reaction would have been the same. But I carefully chose the names in my examples as Mohan Bhagwat and Anurag Kashyap: two of the most loved ‘intellectuals’ of contemporary India. Nobody would have dared to criticise their appointment, even though they have nothing to do with sports. If media has bias, so has public. They don’t mind ascetic gurus, Godmen, political honchos having their fingers in every pie after all.
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