Where were all the protests against line-crossers when Lataji’s dying moments were filmed?

For long, I wanted to say this. We Indians are the most insensitive people in the universe. We shed tears in movies about abandoned parents and then go home to scream at our own mother for preparing gobi instead of chicken. We applaud films about liberated women and then secretly check our wives’ phones.

But that’s not the point here. This is about the brouhaha over cricketer Virat Kohli ’s hotel room being videographed. Since he was not in the room at the time of this heinous crime, there is no way of knowing whether the video was taken while Mr Kohli was a hotel guest or just a random view of the room that he normally occupies when in that part of the world.

In any case, this is nothing as compared with what our other, and I would like to believe much bigger, national icon Lata Mangeshkar whose last hours were filmed by the world’s most evil predator. I know who did it. But to avoid a defamation suit I will keep quiet on the name. But the person knows who he or she is. You will come to a sticky end for sure. I have seen what has happened to people who have been unkind to Lataji.

But tell me, Predatorji, didn’t your hands tremble when you shot that frail dying woman who was the voice of the Indian subcontinent for seventy years? How unhappy she must have felt at being put through this at a time when she should have been home surrounded her family. The same family for whom she lived, and died.

We Lata bhakts were livid. We still are. Nothing has been done to those responsible for the monstrous transgression.

The angriest response I got was from Adnan Sami. “Whoever did this to the Bharat Ratna is a f…g bastard who should be punched in the throat and should have a living snake shoved up his posterior !! The hospital should take strict action against him for this. In fact, the hospital should be sued for this and made an example out of for all hospitals to take cognisance of the fact that serious consequences would occur if such a disgusting unprofessional and unethical act ever takes place again!!! What happened to patient-doctor confidentiality? WTF!"

Prior to Lataji there was Rishi Kapoor where a ward boy was singing Rishi’s song to him on his death while filming the act.

What are we coming to? Have we lost our humanity completely? A lot of optimists out there thought this lockdown would change civilization’s growing descent into self-interest. But no such luck.

When Rishi passed away Lataji was not spared either. She had news channels hounding her for her reactions to Rishi Kapoor’s death. One enthusiastic correspondent wanted to know if Rishi Kapoor had any favourite songs by Lataji. That’s when she hung up the phone. Shouldn’t that question be directed at Rishi who, alas, was not available to answer anything anymore.

The living get more respect than the dead. If you violate Virat Kohli’s privacy you will have hell to pay. But it’s okay to shoot the Goddess Of All Melodious Things during her final moments because, hell, she can’t do a thing. She can’t sue from heaven, can she?

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.

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