The plot is perfect for a Bollywood tale. Pretty girl with stars in her eyes lands up in the big city in search of a role. She meets a dashing young man, who promises her roles, befriends her and gets intimate with her. The girl has a sweetheart back home but doesn’t mind giving sexual favours to the new friend in the city. After all, it’s part of the job. Jealous lover finds out, lands up at her place and in a fit of rage kills the new friend. Gruesome tale but makes for a good plot, no? There is passion, crime, love, jealousy, everything.
The entire Neeraj Grover murder case has been blown out of proportion. What with co-conspirator Maria Susairaj staging a press conference and blankly stating that she is innocent and the conviction is a stigma on her life. Couple this with friends of Neeraj interrupting the high voltage press conference and shouting slogans ‘She is a killer!” and Maria breaking into tears. Wow, the plot of the sequel is already set. Its unfolding right i
n front of our eyes!
But my question is, is it necessary? Does one have to make such films? In the garb of realistic films, has the consciousness within died? Now we all know Ram Gopal Varma loves making statements just for the shock value. He makes films on controversial people just to garner interest in his otherwise horrible films. So it is not surprising that he has an opinion about this case as well. But hasn’t he gone too far this time. While I know it’s a free country and cinematic license allows you to make films on any subject, but if we go by the trailers of the film, it seems to look extremely gory. Has RGV’s sensitivity absolutely gone for a toss? Has he forgotten that by his film he may be affecting the victim’s family gravely? While he has denied that the story is based on the infamous murder, the resemblance is just too striking.
Have a heart Ramu. Don’t just jump the gun and hog the limelight. It was gruesome murder, extremely unfortunate. So don’t go around telling the world that how you are keen to cast the culprit in your next movie. That’s just not done. Not only will you receive flak from the victim’s family but also from the people at large. And drawing attention to your otherwise irrelevant existence will not be helpful in the long run.
Coming to Maria now; one can’t help but wonder why she would call a press conference hours after her release. Was it her way of getting two minutes of fame? Possibly, because she clearly got a lot of it.
What is even more appalling is that fact that many reality show producers and filmmakers have shown interest in casting her in their show/films. While many would argue that she deserves a second chance, it would perhaps be better if she didn’t hog the limelight for the wrong reasons. Why glorify your mistakes and become even more infamous with your past as a stepping stone in showbiz. Imagine the host introducing Maria at ‘Big Boss,’ “Please welcome Maria Susairaj, the Kannada starlet who was convicted in a murder case.” I’m sure even Maria wouldn’t want such an introduction.
While keeping a low profile for many years would be the best option for Maria, it would also be better if we all stop discussing the case and Maria’s possible next actions. Instead let’s concentrate on Ash’s pregnancy or Anna’s fast. Those are news.
What two lovers did in the summer of 2008 has already been discussed. Let’s not dwell on it further. And let’s not bank on Maria for more TRPs, there are plenty of ‘celebrities’ out there dying to make their presence felt on reality television. Let’s concentrate on them, shall we?
(The views expressed by the author are personal)