Hungama around hanging

Hungama around the hanging! Flashback to the 80s Now I am reminded of reading a popular Telugu novel around 30 years back in which the protagonist, who is an advocate and lawyer tries to repeal the hanging related sections from the Indian legal provisions. He gets entrapped by a senior lawyer in the process and finds himself almost hanged. Ofcourse the book must have been influenced by another English book- no doubt! In the end the protagonist succesds in repealing the hanging related provision. While the protagonist really lived in Utopia, the author and publisher did not at all live in Utopia. They made huge money when written as a serial in a monthly/weekly and later as a book by itself. Subsequently when the book was made into again as a Telugu movie it went on to a huge money spinner for the author, director, the hero, the maker and related artistes. From the above it can be easily be seen that humanism really sells! Because the lay readers whose time and mind are attracted to those Utopian concepts make them shell out money towards consuming the utopian ideas nad feel thrilled to have read/seen such a great work! I read the book, liked the racy reading and went on continuing to live in Utopia eve now. Then there were some English novels and movies with prison escape background such as The Great Escape and Papillion. In these novels/movies, the protagonsts, who are convicted by foreign courts/jails, put efforts to excape from the jail they are kept on the foreign land. They are convicts but they emerge as heroes for breaking away from the prisons and jail. Both novels and movies of this genre went on to become huge hits by making everybody involved very rich including the person or his family members based on whose stories the books are written/movies are made. Huge royalties are paid to the family members of the ‘Escapist’. Cut Cheste/Fast Forward to 2008 Kasab and his close associates from the neighbor country attack Mumbai and take the lives of around/more than 200 personnel including some high officials. Kasab alone is caught and the others escape. Now Kasab is labelled as the heinous terrorist and people wanted his blood. Trials went on and on and people were restless for the huge amount of money spent on his security. To 2009 a Telugu movie: A hero who as an ancient warrier and commander of the Army of small kingdom of 16th/17th century challenges the invading king/chief of army that he will kill atleast 100 people before his death, if at all he has to succumb to death because of the fighting. The challenge starts- as things progress, the hero goes on the killing spree through all means using all glamourous ancient weapons and acrobatics hugely aided by today’s/ modern generation graphics. After killing 100 and odd people the protagonist also succumbs to the wounds. In the process the movie has become a blockbuster movie in the southern film circuit and thus making the director, hero, heroine, movie maker emerge with ‘Super’- prefix. The movie won some national awards also. The protagonist was labelled as the real “dheer-mard” and a superman. So killing spree also sells! Here the viewers wanted justice to be brought against the invaders by decimating them in the final form so that they can never come back to invade. People wont mind shelling out their money and time for such action-ridden revenge dramas. It may be the most downloaded movie, with most hits on youtube or otherwise. Kasab Episode - Nov 2012 Hanging Kasab hogged headline status in print/web/Tv/electronic media as well as status updates in FB and Twitter! It was later followed by processions and celebrations in most parts of India as I witnessed one or two in remote Maharashtra. People are appreciating the President as the real “Mard” and the news media is now hounding for Afzal Guru! But any sort of killing requires a deranged mind to the best of my knowledge! If a person in the army/military kills a civilian/terrorist/extremist we call him well trained and patriot! But when a trained terrorist kills others we call it extreme reaction and he is “ill”-trained. But in my opinion both are to be considered as acts of deranged minds whether instigated by deranged politicians or not! Now it is frequently heard that Ram gopala Varma’s new movie is about the 26/11 episode and it is very much silently and secretly made. So all the drama around masterminding, designing, planning and executing the Kasab’s attack will be on magnificient scale to attract the viewer’s attention with good sound track, fantastic camera work with well planned close-ups and long shots, spruced with blood and gore and ofcourse the much ubiquitous graphic work. Ofcourse it will be followd up by showing how the protagonist busts the whole thing and thus saves the Mumbaikars in the city and thus the nation. If people are in right mood and the movie is made on slick pace with good one-liners, then it may become a raging hit drawing passions across borders and may be the film will be banned on the other side of the border and thus raising expectations among Indian audience. Unfortunately for Kasab, he and his close associates or his family members will not get any royalty for all the hardwork they have done to have dictated terms in an engrossing episode. Kasab and his family members may have to miss the post-killing ransom that the whole news-industry, the publishers and movie-moghuls are making or likely to make!