supposed affair between Hrithik Roshan and his Kites co-star Barbara Mori. There were reports that Hrithik’s marriage was on the rocks as pictures of the stars together at Cannes were circulated with some very intriguing bylines. It was as if a dearth of news due to lack of releases for a long time was being compensated. More than a year back, Srikanth was in the news big time even though he had no movies releasing. Reason; the problems surrounding his marriage to Vandana. Well, there might have been a genuine personal problem, but the press seemed to pursue the matter with a verve that can be termed unnecessary because it was ultimately an issue that had to remain within a family. Almost every other day there is some kind of news or the other about the two hottest pairs in Bollywood at the moment, Saif-Kareena and Salman-Katrina, even though it might be most inconsequential. The Indian media is not the only one addicted to personal news of stars. It is pretty much true that the most frequent news items coming out of Hollywood is about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (or ‘Brangelina’ as used in headlines).

Of course, fans would be keen to know every little personal detail of their stars and marriage is a big issue that every one would want to know. But in the quest to be the first in the media to serve the hot news, some unscrupulous media houses do resort to unfair practices like publishing morphed photos. Such practices are generally followed by film-based magazines whose very existence depends on film buffs. But is it pardonable if it is done be a reputed magazine? Everyone has to realize that even movie stars have a personal life; their self-esteem and privacy ought to be respected. Of course, good press covering genuine news about our favorite stars is always a delight. Like the recent marriage of Jeyam Ravi, or the Suriya-Jyothika marriage in 2006 which was perhaps one of the best covered star events in the last decade.

It does not matter if Nayan and Prabhu marry or not. If they do, it would definitely make big news in the film industry and when such announcement comes from reliable sources, media houses can publish a cover story, discuss about the legality of the marriage etc. Why do media houses publish news based on their imagination, why do they have to jump the gun? Even after 75 years of Tamil cinema, the most sought after news items are personal tidbits of stars. This shows that we have not progressed much in terms of being able to appreciate films as works of art and technology. A movie has scores of aspects to it but the media tends to start and stop with stars and music. Rarely do camera, editing, re-recording, art direction, special effects and the like get mentioned. The depths of cinema have not been brought to the people by the media, its only the surface that has been prodded. Objective and detailed coverage of all aspects of cinema will help people understand the medium better. At present, a sort of mystic air surrounds cinema, disconnecting it from the common man as something that is only a domain for stars. Only the media can demystify cinema and bring it to the people as it is. Only then will our appreciation of the medium rise above the superficial.

Considered to be the fourth estate of the democracy, why do media houses still depend on pointless gossips in the cine industry more often than not? The reasons are very obvious. At the end of the day, it is the circulation that matters and professional ethics are guillotined to give way to sensationalism. Hoping for better press!

(By Sudhakar, with inputs from Anitha and Arun.)

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