Open Letter to Aamir Khan

कोई भी देश परफेक्ट नहीं होता, उसे परफेक्ट बनाया जाता है!

Hello Aamir!

I hope you remember this line. You – Mr. Perfectionist – would definitely remember it. Being someone who is so passionate about the characters you portray, you chewed almost 100 paans every single day while shooting PK. I am sure you’d definitely remember this line. It’s from the movie Rang De Basanti.

Rang De Basanti was a very special movie. It impacted every single person who saw it. The impact made the judiciary of India come out of slumber. However, now I wonder if it impacted you at all! Did it? Because what you just said about the “RISING INTOLERANCE” was plain stupid.  I am sorry but that is what it is.

Please don’t take me otherwise. I laughed heartily when you hounded the blue painted guy playing Lord Shiva in the film PK. I don’t have any intolerance issues. I am fine with criticism of state, religion and the masses. However, plain bullshit is what pisses me off.

You’re a superstar. Of course you’re a very intelligent actor. You’ve definitely seen a lot of world. However, that simply doesn’t mean that everything you’d ever say is right. It doesn’t mean that you know everything. And it definitely doesn’t mean that you can open your mouth without carefully choosing your words.

Do you know how do we get to know you?

We get to know about you from the carefully timed interviews that you give before and after the release of movies and the meticulously planned promotional activities. Over and above the images, videos, print interviews of you promoting the films, we get to see you getting in and out of airports, restaurants – all thanks to the paparazzi. Did I get it right? I guess I did.

I am sure keeping the personal life personal is a two-way process. So while you’re trying to keep yourself hidden, you’re also hiding us away. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Therefore, the question now arises is – what the fuck do you know about the common man’s life?  While you get to live a bit of it portraying the characters, you don’t get close to the real life. Apart from the drivers, maids, assistants that you have employed, the only common people you’d get to know about would be the distant relatives who unfortunately are like me. That would be it. AND I CAN BET MY LOVE FOR YOU ON THAT!!

Let’s talk about “Intolerance”

India isn’t perfect. She has her share of problems. There are assholes in almost every walk of life. While we have Kamaal R Khan bullshitting on Twitter, we have Praveen Togadia and his likes suffering from verbal diarrhea on TV channels. However, both these assholes and the entire spectrum of assholes in between these two don’t represent anything real. Want to know what intolerance a common Indian has to face? Fasten your seat belt and grab a box of tissue-papers (if what I have seen on Satyamev Jayate was right).

• Frowning at sight of ‘Safai-wallah ’ getting into the lift with you shows intolerance
• Lynching of the Jaat couple just because they belonged to the same gotra is intolerance
• Intolerance is when a kashmiri pandit boy who was selected for MBBS was hit on his head in the name of ragging. Later, he succumbed to his injuries
• Intolerance is AIIMS’s doctor’s writing ‘BIOHAZARD’ on a chart-paper in a HIV positive woman’s room
• Calling a girl from northeast ‘Chinki’ shows our intolerance and considering her a sex-worker takes it to another level
• Muslims boys not getting a room on rent is what is intolerance
• Intolerance is Shiv Sena bullshitting on Valentine’s Day
• Intolerance is police raiding gay parties and extorting money from closeted gay guys
• Calling a girl ‘RANDI’ just because she’s exploring her sexuality is intolerance
• Calling an effeminate boy – “HOMO HOMO” is intolerance
• Addressing a black person as BIHARI or MADRASI is not only racist but is also an example of intolerance
• How could you tolerate beheading of an Indian army personal by Pakistani army?
• Shutting of cafeteria in AMU during the month of ramzan….. I don’t know what that was!

We – the common people of India – face all these things. We suffer – sometimes for being Hindu, sometimes for being a turbaned sardar. For being an UPite or for being a Mallu. For being a Hindi-speaker or for not been able to speak English fluently. What infuriates me is while millions of commoners like me have to face the reality of every-single-fucking-thing, you – a person who lives an almost-perfect cocooned life – do not really have any right to mock my suffering.

Please don’t be a political dick-head. And please don’t be selective in picking things. Remember, you are not just a public figure. You represent me. You represent India.

Coming back to what I started with – let’s make this country perfect!

Regards,

Aniruddh Singh