Bhookha Pyaasa...

Have you seen Pyaasa? Of course, I'm talking about the Guru Dutt classic, not the Yukta Mookhey disaster (which you haven't even heard of, most likely). For those of you who haven't seen the brilliantly poignant poetry on film, go see it. Anyway, the story revolves around a poet. A poet who writes of the misery and pain of human existence rather than concentrating on love as most urdu poets throughout history have. A poet who refuses to change himself to the whims of an unaccepting society. A poet who is ultimately driven to suicide...but he survives his attempt. And finds himself waking up to a changed world. The world which spat in his face while he was alive, suddenly can't get enough of him. Because he 'died' in such a sensational manner, the whole perception of him has changed. A lot of other things happen which I don't want to delve into here. Because this is not about Pyaasa.

My question is...could a Pyaasa happen today? Is there a Vijay (not to be confused with the one on whose hand is tattooed 'Mera Baap Chor Hai') out there who doesn't get due recognition today, will be driven to suicide and then suddenly become a national cult figure?

Well, one thing is for sure...a Vijay character cannot be a poet today. Poetry is so out of fashion (unless it is film lyrics that the person writes) today that nobody really gives a f**k...and most poets are forced to be closet or bathroom poets with regular day jobs in advertising agencies (sorry, even film lyricists have to do that...e.g. Mr. Prasoon Joshi). But let us assume some other creative field as talent and choice of profession for our hypothetical modern day Vijay...let us say music, or prose, or filmmaking, or acting, or whatever. Now that we have established this much, let us get back to the question.

Transposing the idealism of the original Vijay into our hypothetical one, the first part of the story is plausible. A penniless guy with great talent, stopped by his idealism from stooping down to what passes for art (I don't mean paintings by art you dumbass) these days, would in all probability remain unrecognized. The suicide part is even more plausible. Because when he sees the condition he is in and compares his talent to those recognized as the best in his field (Chetan Bhagat/Arundhati Roy if he's a writer, Pritam/Himesh if he's a musician, Sanjay Leela Bhansali/Ashutosh Gowariker/Aditya Chopra/Karan Johar if he's a filmmaker, SRK/Kareena if he's an actor), he would definitely want to commit suicide.

But what is implausible is the third part. Our news media does not have time for loser artistes killing themselves. They have much more interesting stories to report on...like who called whom a bitch on the popular reality shows, or which actor passed a snide comment on another, or how many pigeons died in the latest terror attacks, or what's happening in the most popular soaps, or what the most pathetic 'comedians' did on the latest episode of an insipid show with a judge paid to laugh at every single word coming out of the performers' mouths...I could just go on and on. So our modern day Vijay will 'die' in vain. Because he will try to commit suicide a second, third or even fourth time when he sees what's going on around him.

Now comes the twist. Times have changed. So has Vijay's talent and profession. Why would Vijay have to be the same way? As I see it, a modern day Vijay will be able to use the media to his advantage. If an ugly woman with fake boobs and no talent can get the media to report on her by creating controversies, then Vijay is definitely smarter.

So, our modern Vijay will be able to use the TRP-hungry, supremely superficial news media to create a buzz...and using the net, he will be able to create at least a cult following if not mass popularity. Hence, the story doesn't even begin in this scenario. Our hero will have some recognition; will not be driven to suicide; will probably be more popular in death than while alive...but that would be after a full career of cult-popularity.

Therefore, I conclude by saying there can be no Pyaasa today...only bhookha pyaasa.