The film fraternity has always shared a love-hate relationship with the media. Of late, however, there seems to be more hate than love, with the media being the industry’s favourite punching bag,even on chat shows like the one hosted by Karn Johar. The protrayal of the fourth estate in films has been diverse-in some special cases stereotypical, farcial and in a bad light. How else would you explain Aishwarya Rai Bachchan tellling Jackie Shroff ‘Journalist log to bohut kam sach bolte hai,’ in Albela?
Jackie who plays the journalist says, ” the media is targeted in films, but so are politicians, cops, sportsmen, and film stars. But like every other profession, there are responsible and irresponsible people even in the media. Ash’s character eventually fell in love with me in the film, that says it all.” You might never catch a journalist doing an item number in real life, but Zayed Khan who played a TV reporter in Mission Istanbul, did just that. Also, scribes being snubbed by actors is common in films.
Remember how Abhishek Bachchan abuses a hapless scribe on being asked a personal question in Naach? Or the Big B chasing a journo out in the Last Lear, when he gets a fact wrong? Madhur Bhandarkar’s page 3 is one of the few films that backed the scribe. ” When I was making Page 3, everyone asked me who’d want to be a sympathetic towards a journalist in India. I met 3 journalists who gave me the inside story. I attended parties in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai as part of my research,” reveals Madhur.
If Madhavan played a gutsy journo in Guru, working under a righteous editor Mithun Chakraborty, Minissha Lamba became the truth seeking reporter in Shaurya. But not all are righteous, maintains Madhur. ” Konkana wans’t one. She was modern, having a boyfriend, drank wine and was fun loving,” says Madhur. From the cranky Seema played by Sridevi in Mr. India, to the fiery Romila Dutt in Lakshya essayed by Priety Zinta, film makers have attached different faces to the profession.
Says Farhan Akthar, who directed Lakshya, ‘ i met war Journalists bwfore shoooting. I was clear that Priety’s character needed to be a responsible journalist who gets the news first handed rather than from someone else. You have to be sure about what you say to people, particularly in a panic situation.” Why did he adhere to the Kurta-crinkled skirt-jhoola bag stereotype while deciding Priety’s look in Lakshya? “Indian movies are guilty of stereotyping all professions. But There is some element of truth in them. Priety ’s look in the film was very Delhi,” explains Farhan.