Where have all the flowery people gone?

Bollywood turns blind eye to ailing Nadira
By: Sriram Sampath and Ketan Ranga January 4, 2006
Yesteryears actress Nadira Abba has been admitted to the ICU at Bhatia Hospital, Grant Road. Unfortunately, the same film fraternity, which descended upon Lilavati in hordes when Amitabh Bachchan was admitted there recently, has decided to stay away this time.Only actress Deepti Naval has paid her a visit.The Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh actress (75) has been in hospital for a week in a critical condition. Even her relatives have not visited her. Her only companion is her caretaker Shobha, who stays with her all day.Nadira, who has starred in movies like Shri 420, Pakeezah and Julie, was brought to hospital by her neighbours on December 30 and was shifted to the ICU the next day. “She is being treated for neurotic disorder, paralysis and alcoholic liver disorder. She is in a semi-conscious state. The treatment is going on but her condition has not improved,” said a spokesperson of the hospital.After visiting Nadira yesterday, actress Deepti Naval, said, “Yesterday she seemed to be fine and even recognised me. We have shared a good relationship for the past 20 years and have always been in touch.
http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/city/2006/january/127616.htm



strange isnt it? the people who are into the profession of simulating in front of cameras always seems to want to go where the cameras go?

when amitabh bachchan (Big B to most media) was hospitalized, the nation reacted (mostly media created though), as if worst came to worst, a day of national mourning will have to be called for!!!! people (read 'stars') started thronging the hospital where Bachchan was being treated, knowing fully well of course that the cameras of the numerous (and still growing) TV channels will be fully focussed on the hospital gates and this of course, will give them instant rating, as you see, the TV channels were airing live....and the throngs of people? well i should think that more than any true well-wisher of Bachchan, they knew this would be a good opportunity to see their favourite stars in flesh and blood....who can pass up the oppurtunity eh? and of course, the media pointed at them as the true bachchan fans and by connecting analogy, true lovers of cinema....or maybe they were those who just have to be there, where they might witness a tragedy, that they can relate at their dinner tables....who cares anyway?

on the TV of course, breathless reporters were reporting as if this is was a national calamity that would result in untold hazards to the mental well-being of the indian mind...we almost had a minute by minute account of how his health is....almost as if watching a surreal cricketing match. as it has been truly said, ours is a calamity driven media (whose isnt today?) and some calamities are worth more, well, much more than the ones that occur each day.....

and while all this was going on, while the nation was holding its breath over an actor who got to be the darling of the masses more because of favourable media hype and political connections than due to any real acting abilities, a old lady, a denizen of the tinseltown of the yesteryears, in the twilight of life was finding out what twilight really means....who else would know the meaning of that word than one who lived a major part of their productive life in that word's antonym.....

nadira abba, who is 75 now, had acted in films that are considered to be a part of the golden heritage of indian films (was not called bollywood then)....well you would think that her being ill and in a critical condition would raise some flutters...

but lets see where that flutter could have been from.....the film industry people of today, who should have had the respect of an old timer whose legacy they have aquired or rather squandered?
pity but they are the ones who have forgotten what cinema is all about, maybe they think cinema is all about lights, camera and action, as simple as that....but more about the camera.....

but then speaking of the camera, maybe the media should be put in the dock first.....where were their multitudes of cameras?, their breathless reporters talking about the possible loss to indian cinema? or perhaps even among film stars, the ones who gets you most eyeballs (of viewers) or who has the requisite political connection to help you out, deserve your attention of your cameras and your airtime more? maybe all that talk of loss and love of cinema was bu****t...ah me, maybe it was that after all....

and what about the people, who were there for the love of the cinema in bachchan's case? where were they, who had hung on to everything possible just to be close to their star? but then cant really blame the people too much....they do what their favourite stars do, where they go....they are the vicarious pleasure hunters, as if following in the idols steps, gives them some scraps of the glory they seek....

and poor nadira, she didnt have anything....nothing at all.....she didnt earn much during her time (then, very few people could command sums which could actually ensure financial stabilty for life) and as we all know money attracts like light attracts moths, nor did she have any political backing, she wasnt even invited to subroto roy's son's wedding...poor nadira, how can anybody bother with one who didnt even get that invite?

and most people had almost forgotten who she was, she had never been in a TV studio, hadnt taken part in serious discussions about whether we today have more nudity or marginally less in today's films...so you see a lot of very precious airtime would have been wasted in just making people understand who she was....i mean so much precious time of 24 hrs channels would have been wasted in just getting through that "nadira who?" phase.....so many more important other news to give no? like which is the hottest restaurant which has opened in mumbai.....

and for the people, did she have anything? she did not have gravitas, which is another man's selling point, she did not have charm oozing out of every pore, she did not give pretty nor saucy replies to questions, maybe she never answered a media question in her life, who know right? she did not have any tips on how to maintain or build your body, she did not have any scandals going in her favour....phew!!! bOOOring....

but then, what was she? and why am i writing this article?

maybe what she was that she was a artiste, an actor who gave films her life, she was a part of our legacy of hindi films, a part of a golden era that we can never get back...

maybe she is a member of our cinema history when cinema was made for the purpose of telling a story, not for the showing of designer sets (that includes humans too..not much better, are they?), when being an actor meant you were ostracised by large part of society, who would not want to live by your side (but who would naturally see your films), when it meant special difficulties, especially if you are a woman.....and it took special love of the medium to keep on at it.....

for that alone she deserves dignity, dignity of a human being at the least though respect from fellow industry people would of course be too much to ask for, i guess.....

maybe nadira will die, maybe she will live....but does it matter? since nobody really cares ( exceptions like deepti naval notwithstanding),
since you see when does death matter? unless somebody is there to mourn you after you have gone, which is perhaps the least we all hope for...because otherwise what is life?

what was her life? how did she live? how did she come to be the way she is? we may never know, maybe she will become another parveen babi, dying the worst death of all,alone...the best she can hope for , if she dies, a is a side column in newspapers and a momentary comeback on the screen, on your TV screens, before that too goes away, as all emphemeral things do (what else have we made her?) and we move on to other more important things in life....and a person, who maybe entertained us once when we watched a movie, will be no more....and none shall stop and look.....

she deserved more....