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Are we ready to accept Sunny Leone ??

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Vivek Sheel
from New Delhi |

Hi Fellow Bloggers !!

I write a personal blog but always find time to pick up issues from day to day events and analyse the pros and cons of it. One such event that i want to write about is Sunny Leone's entry in Bigg Boss. There are some questions that i want to debate here in the open forum and then write something responsibly.

1) What Sunny Leone represents ??

2) What signal are we giving to the society by promoting 'entertainers' like her?? Long term implications for aspiring girls and new comers ??

3) Should there be a definition of entertainment / classification of channels on air ??

4) Is our Indian mindset ready to accept the fact that entertainment is going to behave like a 'free economy' in the internet era ?? Do we require censorship, curbs and policing??

Please Debate !!

Replies 1 to 20 of 21

Vishal Kataria
from Thane |

Don't blame the pawn, blame the player.

Sunny Leone has been drafted into our system by bigger players who will continue to do so. They want us to feast on useless topics like this when there are a lot more critical points to ponder on.

We accepted Mallika Sherawat, Emraan Hashmi & sleazy Mahesh Bhatt movies. So we can (& invariably will) accept SL. And had we not known she's a porn star, we wouldn't have had this debate at all...

Censorship also depends upon us. If the world accepts something gleefully but we differ, we don't need to accept it. We can devise ways to keep ourselves and close ones away from it (if they choose to).

IMHO, what's more important here is what we, as individuals, stand for... Laughing

Vivek Sheel
from New Delhi |

While you reply to this topic please also include in the end " I accept SL / I reject SL " in the end. We will have a poll and see how many of us are for it and how many against it !!

umesh derebail
from Mumbai |

Karen Malhotras seems to have had a roller coaster ride.  Hope she shines as Sunny Leone in India too.  Smile  We seem to have already accepted her in Big Boss, and now if she is on the big screen do we we have option ?  Waiting for Jism 2

Vivek Sheel
from New Delhi |

Are we not getting too liberal as a society and accepting what is pushed to us?? You guys say we accepted sleaze in the past and film makers like Mahesh Bhatt are making money by selling soft *&%# . This time too we will accept by switching channels or neglecting such a person.

Is switching channel and neglect not acceptance ?? My contention here is why can't there be a definition for adult entertainment and proper channels to dish that out and is it necessary to bring this rot in the mainstream ??

Vishal Kataria
from Thane |

Vivek, we can make do without a definition of aspects for us.

Exorcizing self control and making our own terms is not difficult. But you cannot change the mentality of the herd. Just like goats and cows, they feed on the grass shown to them...

Neglect, IMHO, is not synonymous to acceptance. It's just a way of using our own minds to choose what's right for us. If we have to galvanize the masses, we need a very good cause, message and communication system. Considering the questions you raise, are you ready to invest time, effort and money in raising this issue? It takes a lot of all 3 aspects...

The Sorcerer
from Mumbai |

Society evolves in time but do not misunderstand ignorance with acceptance. Truth be told, people are too occupied with their life that they prefer to change channel rather than making noise about it. At max, they will lodge a complaint and then they will do the needful. Isn't that the reason why every channel display IBFIndia notice? If you don't like it, complain. I think there should be a way to directly lodge a complaint from those DTH boxes. Keep a dedication button on the remote and have similar options that facebook has for their ads. This way, IBFIndia can collect a lot of information, alongwith which dth channel, what time frame, which region, city, etc. Then use the data to form a prerequisite in the future. Just lodge a complaint IBFIndia.com and be done with it.

And about the movie:

The movie is getting an A certification. Now why on Earth would people take their children there? Its not the movie maker's fault, it those who are accompanying them.

S Deepak Karthik
from Thanjavur/Chennai, TN. |

Blame the player as VISHAL said !

already we have accepted her with wide handss !

baseless question and it's quite shamefull to see Indian media portraying her half nude pictures everywhere, can't see nowadays news with family !

The Sorcerer
from Mumbai |

What to expect from mainstream media? Media is a judge, jury and executioner. If some IT officer makes an inquiry, the media says that they did a raid and when the person is in clear, reporters don't report it. When someone has been accused of a crime that has not been proven guilty media potrays him or her as guilty, but if he or she is proven innocent, the reporters don't say it. A weeks ago, Zee news made a great report about companies cooking up excuses when people want to port the numbers, and then all of a sudden the news is chopped off halfway of the clipping and replaced it with Air India issue. Then after couple of days you see hordes of cellphone ads. My dear friend, Indian media is a sellout and they're nothing more than a story teller. In 1 newschannel, they say AI cannot pay for the fuel and for the pilots therefore they went on strike. Another says that Pilots wants to do extortion so they decided to call for a sick leave at the same time. Another channel says the same thing, but they use the word strike. Now- whom are you going to believe?

Best thing to do is to complain in IBFIndia.com- the more the better. The way I see things, that nirmal baba ad in live india should come as a disclaimer as TVC does. Media has gone to the dogs and they will not resort to real journalism, rather bank on spicy, juicy, controversial points. Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if Sunny Leone or her publicist paid money to the cameraman, reporters, etc. to do it. They wouldn't mind. Even if the channels are fined its less compared to the profits they are making through Sunny Leone, putting online (and also few scenes that are not put up on TV) videos in their websites and advertisements- both from television, ads on video and ads displayed on their site. Tech journalism is the most profitable business even editors don't know what their writers are doing. One journalists gets a fully loaded 50+ inch high defination screen worth more than 1.50l on MRP for free inexchange for an article. That's how it works. Live with it or join in such fields to keep things in balance. Since most of our politicians (mostly state by the looks of things) just tell me: if everyone is exposed and gets arrested, who will take over? Have you thought about that? No!! But we want to remove them!! But would you take their place? No man, you are a "common man".

Honestly, I blame the people. Those who are incompetent got the jobs that are vital for the nation: civil welfare, state welfare, national welfare, internal affairs and media- print, online (most of them are from print media anyways) and television. They are filled with those types of people who get their real UGC/AICTE degrees to 50K and occupied the job. Whereas the population that has a level of competence go for jobs like banking, management (everyone is doing MBA), finance, lawyer- stuff like that. Just how many parents say: I want to make my son/daughter a writer, a reporter, a journalist, a politician, a social activist, a cameraman, a painter???

We all ignored it, but it was obvious. Someday this had to happen and it happened. People who are not supposed to be reporting on national television are the ones who are doing that job. Their half educated and incompetent mindset and no obligation or loyalty towards their career (to their career as a journalist- and not to the media company). We lack atleast a generation of people to take over these positions from the previous generation and its because of this we get people who are not suited for this. There are few responsible journalists and media guys, but unfortunatly, their honest way of doing things is stiffled.

Farida Rizwan
from Bangalore |

Wrong question - It should be asked whether (wo)Men want to accept Sunny Leone publicly or privately?

Arvind Passey
from Delhi |

We are living in times when a mere caricature of a politician can bring freedom of speech under a cloud... if the mature political thinkers can adopt such stances, we can only imagine what the not-so-literate masses can do with their flawed thinking.

It isn't Sunny Leone who is important... it is immature moral policing trends, non-willingness to accept changing patterns, sluggish adoption of a liberal thought process, and an affinity to do everything out of public glare (as Farida pointed out) that need to be sorted out.

Vivek Sheel
from New Delhi |

@ Vishal K - When i think of blogging, its not a mere hobby  but a instrument to speak my mind out.  The herd mentatility is definetely prevalent in a land of 1Billion plus people and there are no choices. The role models are a shaky lot !! I  write on issues that i consider have a deeper impact on the society and where in we all can be crusader of the right message to the masses.

@ The Sorcerer - Ingoring an object and not not taking it head on is a silent acceptance. Either we decide that yes we are ready to accept a certain change or else we stand against it. In this case of SL , lets choose our stance. If we are against it voice your opinion and if you are with it educate the masses responsibly.

@ Deepak - Can't see TV with family ?? I also face similar situations in every walk of life. 2 Options as people suggest . 1) Neglect it 2) Debate about it with your family and friends and involve them in the transformation of the society and mindsets. But the key is don't be silent.

@ Farida - Maam !! If you want to accept or not is there a choice left ?? A cheap stunt like this first degrades the respect of women and then they are expexcted to obilige when getting harrassed or misbehaved. We as a society need to first build a conducive and safe environment for females and then gradually mature to such kind of entertainment in mainstream.

@ Arvind - You raised a valid point of immature moral policing trends, sluggish adoption of a liberal thought process....educating masses is the need. Probably we need to debate as to how information is shared and how is it perceived by ignorant minds.

The Sorcerer
from Mumbai |

If people stand against Sunny Leone then people are going to be distracted :P. They're not even proper junior artists. A bunch of flopped and ignored people who a lot of people never even thought they existed (except Kabir Bedi's wife) who wants 15 minutes of fame in the hopes to get a lucky break in some C grade movie, a serial or in some show where won't bother to look. But if one is watching such content then I don't know what to say.

People are ignoring it because they don't want to waste time on things which are practically useless. Why do channel depend on sleeze and fake/scripted controversies? To pull you in by filling TV with spam and using news channel to showcase their spam. You ignore them enough and one fine day they will get a the picture and stop it. That has been sucessful many times and it worked. Mass ignorance makes people to shut up. Besides, they sleeze they show, its happening in India for a very long time in much lower grade movies.

Monica
from New Delhi |

Who are we to accept Sunny Leone? Does she care if we accept or not? I am working on an alternate train of thought- How Sunny Leone made us realize that porn stars are not ****s.Infact going by the surgical definition of even ****s, there is nothing dirty about them.Sex is a very basic truth of life.What is dirty is the attitude of our society who likes the very porn stars and terms them as dirty in a drawing room conversation!Sunny is more human than those hypocrites could ever be.Porn is her job which is shot technically, her moral standards are much higher than our politicians for sure!This is going to be my article's point, you can choose yours :)

Sankar
from Trivandrum |

is there anything to be accepted now? :)

people , their life, their thoughts :) , its their wish to be what they want to be :)

I dont watch the so called unreal "reality" shows :) so I have no say :)

its all for the money , business is in everything nowadays :) 

its all just a game anyway :)

Rumbaho.com
from Hyderabad |

@ Vivek: mate, have you ever watched porn? You should. hehe

indu chhibber
from Kota |

Let me make it clear that i have never watched Big Boss except a few glimpses while switching channels,& that too, the one before this last one....i find it too assinine

regarding sexual content -well v adults will leave a channel if v r disgusted but what about teens & tweens ? & this spate of rapes--is it not in some way connected with this explicit sexuality in the media? TVis not confined to educated class only--what happens when someone not able to mingle with the opposite sex is inflamed by in your face sexuality & takes it out on some poor unsuspecting girl or minor?

mayb i m old-fashioned but i dont like this sunny leone business.

Subhorup Dasgupta
from Hyderabad |

Wow, this thread has given a lot of food for thought. Will be looking forward to Vivekji's post deciphering the impact of Sunny Leone, but in the meantime, I was able to put the thinking on this thread along with my own into a post connecting Silk Smitha and VIdya Balan's Dirty Picture, SUnny Leone and the post-****walk media overdrive into a post. We are again being tested by being made to stand at a juncture where gender equality canbe achieved or destroyed altogether, depending on how we respond to the recent trends.

indu chhibber
from Kota |

Subhorup please clarify 1 thing....do u propose that in the name of gender equality, girls running around half-clad should be condoned? it is true that our old sculptures r liberal in what they show,as the sorcerer too has said;but in those days the whole societal set-up was different.....in our mythology i have heard it said(not read it personally) that women would openly accost a man & tell him they were attracted by him, & so on ....in such n open society i doubt if there were rapes or throwing of acid on a girl who refuses somebody's advances....but today some girls have taken a giant leap forward while a segment of male psyche is still rooted in .......oh leave it v all know what sort of & how many crimes r perpetrated on women everyday.

Subhorup Dasgupta
from Hyderabad |

Not at all, Indu. As you have observed, it is essential that we might balance. It is time that crimes against women were addressed in a rational manner, and not with the hypocrisy that our society traditionally adopts. At the same time, one needs to look at how we can allow women to be who they want without having to fear condemnation and reprisal. You are right in the fact that this is a tricky issue and one fraught with the danger of going overboard.

TF Carthick
from Bangalore |

Welcome to democracy and market principle I would say. Market priniciple and democracy play to the crowds. Instead of leaders setting high standards for common man to follow, the lowest common denominator is leading the way. Relegion is thrown to the winds, value systems are thrown to wind. It is all about indvidual freedom. 6 billion people living together with individial freedom with no anchor of common ethics and value? Everyone will step on each other's toes and there will be utter chaos. Only cycnical manipulators like politicians and sensational media will prosper.  

indu chhibber
from Kota |

How well u have put it TF....no man is n island but  behaving like this will only lead to chaos.

Vivek Sheel
from New Delhi |

@ Subhorup Sir - You made a very interesting commment and i will deep dive into it in the post " We are again being tested by being made to stand at a juncture where gender equality canbe achieved or destroyed altogether, depending on how we respond to the recent trends." I really like this observation.

@ The Fool -  "Market priniciple and democracy play to the crowds. Instead of leaders setting high standards for common man to follow, the lowest common denominator is leading the way. " Wow ..........when i read this thought process i said this is mathematics doing rounds in Bigg Boss :):) Will include this too in my post

@ Indu - "What happens when someone not able to mingle with the opposite sex is inflamed by in your face sexuality & takes it out on some poor unsuspecting girl or minor? " You have nailed it. I am from the same old school of thought as you are and was happy to read this comment from you.

Purnendu
from Pune |

1) What Sunny Leone represents ??

Answer: She represents Sex. If there was something wrong with sex, you and me would not have been here. 

2) What signal are we giving to the society by promoting 'entertainers' like her?? Long term implications for aspiring girls and new comers ??

Answers: The signal we are giving is that its just another industry and they are workers like lets say IT chaps. They deserve all the dignity and respect of a human and a worker. As far as aspiring girls is concerned, the supply will keep coming as long as demand is there. And in a sex starved nation like India, the demand will not cease in near future. 

3) Should there be a definition of entertainment / classification of channels on air ??

Answer: What sells is entertainment. Sunny Leone was not indulging in porn on air. She does it on channels which are closed to the unprepared masses. 

4) Is our Indian mindset ready to accept the fact that entertainment is going to behave like a 'free economy' in the internet era ?? Do we require censorship, curbs and policing??

Answer: The Indian mindset has never been ready for any change, be it sea travel, greased cartidges or multinationals. But the change wont wait for India to become ready for it. Entertainment has always been and will be a free economy, do not confuse it with Broadcasting. 

The Sorcerer
from Mumbai |

Indian mindset has degraded over the centuries the way I see it.

Purnendu
from Pune |

I will call it just Change. 

umesh derebail
from Mumbai |

Sunny has been signed up for Jism2 for a whopping 10 crores as per rumours.  Even assuming the figure to be exaggerated according to Bhatt, I believe it may be true considering black and white content of payment.  I am sure we may have two versions of Jism2 one with porn another with sober censored film for Indian audience.  I am sure in future Sunny might become bolder on the big screen Smile

Vivek Sheel
from New Delhi |

Hi !! After such a intense debate on the topic posted by me i have written a blog post " Decoding Sunny Leone" incorporating multiple views. I really want to thank the fellow bloggers who added lots of content and gave me food for thought, to write my post.

Please read the blog post at your own convenience !!

The Sorcerer
from Mumbai |

Eh? I am not sure if people will be interested. She was/is a porn star and now she's here doing something. You don't like her don't watch. If you like, by all means. Honestly if people have time to follow up what these attention seeking silicon aunties (well- we have the original loudmouth, then we have a pakistan loudspeaker, then we 100% Indian Made in U.S.A with parts from China most likely) and worse, waste their time and blog about it then I am at a loss for words. If people think who follows up this crap- well the state above who is decoding one of them proves it.

Vivek Sheel
from New Delhi |

@ The Sorcerer - Mate i am sure you have not gone through the post. Don't be fooled by the outer appearance. Anyways i don't write to please masses , i write to deep dive on issues that have an impact on the society.

You read sunny leone as the topic and made your assumptions and conclusions :) :) 

umesh derebail
from Mumbai |

Vivek, if we assume Kamasutra is an export from India than porno is an import with foreign artists. More and more Russians and Ukranian women are now invading Bollywood as extras in dancing . I am sure they will find their niche in wooing customers apart from displaying their powrress in dancing. So the life has come a full circle for us whether we like it or not. We accept foreigners as porno stars rather than Indians.  Good post Vivek i read it.