Celebrities And Social Consciousness (Part-1)

Celebrities, such as sportsmen and film personalities, have a huge impact on any society. And in a nation, which is starved of heroes like ours the tendency to put them on a pedestal,and their almost hypnotic power over the people is even greater. Along with the fame and adulation they get comes social responsibility. Unfortuntely in India most stars choose not to have a social consciousness. There are naïve people who will buy a product simply because their favorite public person endorses it. Given this reality how many of our celebrities think about the repercussions their endorsements have on people who almost worship them? My intention is not to indulge in negativism, so I thought I would first mention some celebrities and their initiatives, which have been refreshingly laudable. Nandita Das and Kamal Haasan are two names, which come to mind immediately. Das made documentary adds on rain water harvesting, AIDS and education, along with her husband who works (worked?) for Ogilvy.Kamal Haasan has a narpini yerkum (association for social work) rather than a fan club. He proactively encourages his fans to involve themselves in social work. On occasions such as his birthday, his fans donate wheelchairs for the disabled, books and uniforms for poor students, etc. Through his movies, he communicates his stances regarding various issues. Cricketers such a Dravid have done ads for aids awareness. Everybody knows of Vivek Oberoi’s post Tsunami relief efforts. I am sure that advertisers have worked for these ads at very low rates or even for free. All these instances go to prove that there are good samaritans among the celibrities/corporates who are socially conscious out of genuine concern. But these people are in the overwhelming minority. The actions of most of our stars prove that on a whole they are a bunch of greedy, irresponsible and money at any cost individuals. To be continued…