MADHURI DIXIT STEALS THE SHOW AND WHY DID KARAN JOHAR, AKSHAY KUMAR AND SAIF ALI KHAN LOOK YEARS OLDER THAN THEY WERE???

Ali Peter John

I was fortunate to have been young, around and active when some of the biggest stars had large hearts which further opened up after an earthquake, a flood, a storm and especially after a war . I had walked in the heat of the sun with legends like Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Balraj Sahni and the entire Industry when it marched like one man through the streets of Bombay asking, requesting, pleading and even begging of people to give money, clothes, utensils and whatever they could give and people were so moved by their appeals that men sent down bales of cloth, heaps of saaris and women even threw their jewelry from their buildings in places like Dadar ,Lower Parel, Mahalaxmi, Bhendi Bazar, Null Bazar and Dhobhi Talao,all of them middle class and lower middle class areas. This kind of a drive continued till the eighties and everything seemed to change with the coming of the underworld and its dons and other devilish men who took over Bombay and ruled it for several years. And if there was one section of human being who kept away from every kind of event, occasion and even festivals, it was the stars of the Hindi and Marathi film industry .The atmosphere in Bombay was never the same again and stars were seen with tight security and the kind of bouncers some of them had could even scare the devil away. The air around the city had grown so vicious that the city of dreams even had to see its name changed from Bombay to Mumbai to suit the convenience of some politicians...

Flash forward to May ,2020 ...The worm which was playing havoc with the world was in a mood to strike India too and had played its dirty game and had put the its fear even in the different Gods who were locked up in their own homes on earth. True, some big stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar had made huge donations, but where were all the other stars of the brave new world ? Why were they not showing their willingness to help in a time of crisis, the kind of crisis the entire world had never faced before ? Truly, some of them were making much more money than the stars of the good old days, then why couldn't they all get together and show that they cared, so that they had hearts which could feel and care and give ?

I was battling with these questions and other related questions when I found their answer .They had taken their time, but what their wait ended in was a tight slap in the faces of all those who had no hope for trust in them, which included me.

On Sunday, May 3,it seemed like they had all descended on Facebook in an unexpected and unique show called "I For India "a programme of song, dance and a crowd of emotions expressed by some of the leading stars of the generation today. The theme of the show was I can ,I will, I must help India".

The show was anchored by the man who has proved that he can not only make films, but can also anchor shows based on any kind of subject, the "anchor man " Karan Johar.He was at his best, but what surprised and even shocked many was his looking old with his hair receding and going grey and his cheeks sunken. But what mattered was how he conducted the show and no one could question him about his authority with which he carried on the show.

What followed was like some kind of a "sitaron ki baaraat". I had to stop when I saw the gorgeous mother Madhuri Dixit with her teenager son Arrin dressed in a suit. I was dazzled and wondered if this was the same Madhuri Dixit I had seen in Divine Child High School and then in Parle College. Arrin took his place before a large piano and played while Madhuri sang a song in English and I was transported into another world, Madhuri's world. I realized how time had passed and how I had grown old and Madhuri was still as beautiful as ever...

Will Arrin be one of the shining stars of the near future ? The answer lies with Madhuri, Dr.Sriram Nene and of course, Arrin .

I came back to the show and saw a galaxy of stars walking in and out, making a mark and making an appeal to people to donate to the fund being raised to fight COVID 19 in India. It was a great feeling to see how crores of rupees were raised within no time.

From stars and superstars like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao ,Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Ranveer Singh and Varun Dhawan and from Madhuri to Katrina Kaif and from music directors A.R.Rehman, Vishal Bhardwaj (with his singer-wife Rekha )and to top it all ,singers like Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chauhan, they were all there to light up the show and bring in the donations. There were other younger singers who I didn't know were singing, talking or grumbling about the worm or the world or both. I am sorry if they feel offended, but what can I do when I have been brought up on Mohammad Rafi , Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and other immortal names ?

In a show like" I for India", it doesn't matter at all whether an old man like me likes or loves someone or someone's work or not, it is the cause that matter and "I For India "served the cause for which they had all worked very hard and in a team of togetherness and with the focused on the cause they were working for.

I saw hope after the show. I knew time had changed and a new generation had taken over and it had its own ways of fighting for causes and to face a crisis like the pandemic we all are facing today.

Come on,all you bright stars and singers and composers of today ! You have given me all the reasons to see hope for the future of India and the world. You have also given me and my generation all the reasons to feel satisfied that we have placed the future in capable and strong hands and you all are the brave and bright rays that can defeat and dispel the most dangerous kind of darkness. Jai ho ,like Irrfan Khan used to say every time he felt happy and elated. You have done it and I am sure you can do it again....And again and show the generations of stars to come that it can be done.