Bollywood: No place for Ladies???

This appeared in B.T. yesterday....
Santa has come and gone. If rumours are to be believed, most of the super pampered star wives asked dear Santa for for just one thing - snow!!! Sacks of it. Why ‘snow’?? Because they love to ski and can’t in Mumbai? No, no , no – this is a different kind of snow. And these ladies don’t make snowmen out of it for their kids. They snort the stuff. It goes up those perfect nostrils of theirs and makes life a little more bearable for them. It’s not easy being a star wife as any number of women married to narcissistic movie stars will tell you. Bollywood wives are having it particularly tough these days, which may be why their behaviour has become so strange and strained. It can get pretty savage out there, and only the toughest survive. The rest exist on snow and other recreational drugs. Scarey scenario, especially for star kids who grow up watching their mothers ( and a few fathers ) throw everything away for those few moments of ecstasy and oblivion.But there are a few good women still left in Bollywood… and it’s a pleasure to interact with their kind. Women who know how to conduct themselves with grace and a sense of decorum, women who know when to open their mouths and more importantly, when not to! Women who remember to wear panties when they step out of the house… you know – the basics! They may speak shaky English, but they are sensible enough not to fake it – either an accent or a relationship. You don’t ever hear them taking pot shots at their contemporaries ( they don’t need to), nor do they bad mouth co-stars ( ditto). They generally mind their own business and go about their lives in a no-nonsense manner, sans drama or extra rona dhona, no matter what the circumstances. The message is pretty clear - ‘Don’t mess with me’. And people generally get it. Does that make these ladies ‘boring’ in an era where you have to be either an obnoxious brat or an out there hottie in order to get noticed? Some would say ‘Yes’. In today’s hyper competitive times, desperate glam girls adopt desperate measures to stay in the news. They know how the game is played these days - talk big, talk dirty, talk rude – and you hit the headlines. Controversy is king. So one can’t really blame the desperate ones for courting trouble, no matter what the cost. But even in such a cess pool, it’s reassuring to come across someone who gets it right, and remains dignified, classy and calm, especially through difficult times.
I was thinking of this while following Liz Hurley’s shenanigans across various platforms last week. Liz is in a league of her own. But at 48, she really does not need to resort to cheap tricks to stay in the news. Having a fling with a serial womanizer is one thing ( she won’t be the first or the last ), but to jump the gun and announce her affair to the world over Twitter, while claiming her marriage is over, is beyond tacky and juvenile. Apparently, nobody who has ever known Liz, is at all surprised by her utter lack of good breeding. This is no lady, laugh her acquaintances, even as she goes in for heavy duty damage control. Poor Mr. Bandhgala ( Arun Nayar ) – some would say he asked for it. But then again… he does emerge as the bechara. And we know how much the world loves the underdog. We need a Bollywood version of Liz Hurley to perk things up a bit. Our married heroines have always played it a bit too safe – at least in public. They specialize in perfecting their boring acts as dutiful, obedient, loyal wives – never mind if they fool nobody, not even their husbands. Imagine if Liz were to fancy one of our top married heroes and swoop down on the guy. Chances are, Bollywood biwis would promptly close ranks and arm themselves against the foreign invader. Who knows? It may still happen. New Year’s Eve is round the corner… and Liz is lonely. A restless Liz is a dangerous Liz. Watch out!!