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How Indian media sold Ranbir Kapoor ad as intimate pictures with mystery woman

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DailyBiteMay 16, 2017 | 15:25

How Indian media sold Ranbir Kapoor ad as intimate pictures with mystery woman

Tuesday Tadka: Ranbir Kapoor gets intimate with a mystery woman

Ranbir Kapoor gets raunchy with mystery woman, photos go viral

Ranbir Kapoor is getting cosy with this woman and all we can look at is his hot bod, see pics

Why are Indians so averse to the idea of two people getting intimate that they find it raunchy?

Although the above headlines about Ranbir Kapoor, the celeb, getting "intimate with a mystery woman" are actually about pictures from an ad shoot for an innerwear, the Indian media selling those pictures as the actor "romancing a mystery girl" is more than just in bad taste.

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While the actor and the model in the ad might be okay with the attention the pictures drew (because that's what TV commercials are supposed to bring — publicity), there is a problem with what gives an adrenalin rush to Indians. Why is it so easy to titillate us with pictures of celebs and words like raunchy, sensational and hot.

Notwithstanding the news media's poor taste in headlines and alliteration, the business of selling sensationalism has been legitimatised by none other than the gossip-hungry people of a nation drooling over private lives of celebs.

If this time it was a TV ad, private pictures of Ranbir Kapoor and co-actor Katrina Kaif during a vacation in Ibiza too were equally gorged upon by the media and the actors' fans.

While there is nothing wrong with celeb worshipping, the hunger and curiosity to know about their intimate moments also show signs of a sex-starved nation where people are morally, emotionally and intellectually challenged.

And that too shouldn't be surprising given the kind of society that we live in where adults need the sanction of an entire society to get intimate (after-marriage celebrations like suhag raat are a testimony of that). Emotionally and intellectually challenged we are the way we remain unaffected by videos capturing lynchings, violence against women and other crimes without a shred of guilt or any thought for the victims and their families.

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Behind the facade of our rich culture and traditions hides the ugly, perverse, smut-loving people who satiate their hunger for pornography (yes, since watching it openly is a "sin" here) with vulgar songs, distasteful description of human bodies and objectification of women.

Of course, our cinema has contributed a lot in satisfying the sexual drive of a deprived and depraved nation.

But why should the film industry be the only one to reap financial benefits?

So the "news" media too has made a business out of it — if there aren't enough elements of sensation in a particular incident, the media makes up for that with graphic details and screaming headlines. So much so that it has become a norm to display gory pictures and details of violent, criminal acts of murder and rape in the name of reporting.

The media has had enough chances to learn and correct its mistakes, and in fact, it has tried too only to repeat such acts of sensationalism with every rape and murder.

Indian news consumers have never been happier. With news and social media developing a symbiotic relationship, almost everything on the face of earth can now go viral. People "caught" in "leaked" videos needn't necessarily be celebs. When they run out of celebs to hound (or when celebs are not leaking their "private" details on Twitter/Facebook), sanskari Indians keep themselves suitably active (read aroused) with the country's politics.

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An unemployed, unoccupied, unwaged India fights its frustration on social media fantasising over a great country that has produced hate-spewing politicians in monogrammed pinstripe suits and saffron robes.

And anyone disagreeing with them should be ready to get "beaten to a pulp" by the numerous trolls of whom there is no dearth. Sometimes in the guise of a celeb, sometimes a politician, sometimes an intellectual.

This country of trolls keeps its hands busy with filth and muck packaged as news. Bharat Mata ki Jai!

Last updated: May 16, 2017 | 15:25
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