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Saturday, August 15, 2009 22:06 IST

In the brief history of my blogging career, my previous post on Sunny Deol has attracted more number of comments than anything else I've written. I must say I am deeply overwhelmed. Taken as a whole, I would have to admit that the outpouring of reader feedback hasn't been exactly laudatory. Among other things, I have been called a moron, a fool, an idiot, a clown, a 2 cent journo, an insensitive man, and an "irresponsible section of the media". One very observant reader has also drawn my attention to my "dumpy cheap taklu head and unwashed face". Others have made generous offers to have me slapped for free, not to mention forceful suggestions that I ought to simply shut up.

Well, first of all, I want to express my extreme gratitude to all you losers out there for coming out in strength to express your solidarity with Sunny baba. Please accept my apologies. And I apologise for two things: my gigantic naiveté and my equally colossal stupidity.

Like the true moron that you guys say I am, I used to imagine that all those goons who were forever taking offense and creating a ruckus over some random scene in some random movie, or vandalizing art shows because some painting was 'offensive' — were just vandals, not representative of the average individual. How naive of me to assume that! How COULD I be so naïve! Seasoning my naiveté with stupidity, I actually used to believe that the average person can take a joke. What a silly idea! And to compound my stupidity even further, I used to think that freedom of expression allowed you say whatever you wanted so long as you didn't incite hatred or violence or slander anyone. But clearly, I was mistaken. It's not just the 'fringe elements' at work. If the response to my Sunny post (you can read it here, http://www.dnaindia.com/blogs/post.php?postid=216) is any indication, it would appear that most people believe you can't take even minimal liberties, not even for humour. And the best part is that it wasn't even me 'insulting' Sunny. I was merely defending somebody else whose humour was considered by Sunny to be offensive.

So, that's it folks. It's out there: Indians can't take a joke. Never again ask why there are no big humour writers in India (I am talking of those writing in English here), a land with a rich tradition of all kinds of humour. If Akbar had taken offense at every prank of Birbal, the latter would have been hung several times over. Time was when a public figure's stature and popularity used to be measured by the volume of spoof, caricature and satire the said figure would generate. But we've turned into a serious people it would seem, especially with regard to figures we like to put on a pedestal. Does God have no sense of humour? Can He (or She) laugh at Himself (or Herself)? Of course not. How can He (She), when even Sunny cannot?

"What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist," wrote Salman Rushdie. Poor chap got slapped with a fatwa. But he was dead right. That's exactly what freedom of expression is about, and it applies even more to humour. So long as you don't slander or lie, and don't incite hatred or violence — you ought to be okay exercising your freedom of expression. Otherwise, the fear of "offending" this section or that group will end up draining all meaning out of Article 19.

Now, let me answer the question many readers have asked me: can I take a joke on myself? Well, I probably can, or maybe not. Maybe I'll take it badly. But I am not going to ask you to shut up so long as you don't slander me or incite hatred or violence against me.

Sadly, we Indians are never tired of taking offense. In fact, we compete over it. Some exist solely to take offense. They trawl the online and offline media like some underwater arthropod, searching for content with 'offensiveness' potential. These offense-seeking organisms apparently have no identity other than their vast talent to get offended, and, like fast-multiplying cancerous cells, they swiftly agglomerate into the fearsome beast known as 'the moral police.'

Interestingly, the very notion of "taking offense" has also raised another question that some other blogger has highlighted elsewhere in the context of the shoe-throwing epidemic that visited us sometime back. The question this man poses is this: "What if I hear your culture-specific insult of me, but I don't feel insulted. Am I disrespecting your culture?" I thought that was brilliant: I actually insult you by refusing to get insulted by your insult. Now, that would be something. How about it, people? How about choosing not to feel insulted?

I, for one, am going to walk the talk. I hereby invite all those of you who may or may not be on Sunny's payroll to kindly go ahead and pour some more sugar on me. Bring it on, guys. And the rest of you, don't you ever EVER dare laugh at Sunny boy, or I'll drink your blood, ma ki kasam. And those of you cowards who actually laughed at the Son Sunny spoofs, if you have truly drunk mother's blood...er...milk, front you come, and ask for maafi from Sunny baba and his loyal fans.

26 comments

and thank sunny for whatever microscopic attention you managed to get in your life. have fun.

comment about your dad and your head, fine with us. but if you jump out of your house and shout about a public figure on a public forum then whatever you got back was a taste of your own recipe. have fun, sicko ;)

you are a fool. I am sure you will be first to abuse anybody who says something to your family. if somebody calls you an idiot and calls your father a moron, how will you react? and you are talking about a legend like dharmendra here who has been a superstar for so many years and then his legacy was taken forward by sunny deol. and you are trying to say bad things about them. you fool, shut up!

Whoa, Sampath's got a chip on his shoulder and thinks he can educate the rest of you bloggers about freedom of speech. Trust me, he will be the first one to try and shut you up if you were to say anything that is even remotely against his reputation. So much for all his "walking the talk." If that's not some type of pseudo-moral posturing (here comes out the Gandhian Mr Sampath), then what is? Don't take him up on his invitation. He just wants to make himself look good and not anger any more readers if he can help it. Whom is he trying to fool?

Dear Mr Sampath, Imagine few naughty adolesents making fun of your parents in front of you... imagine one of your neighbours casting doubts on your intellect and maturity... imagine one of your relatives attacking your family with his 'sense of humour'... Please don't write like an americanised confused desi... what Indians have or not will be known to you as you mature but till then don't write statements that make your Indian parents and children ashamed of you...

Mr Sampath, you have written with such disdain about sunny deol and now when his fans are reacting strongly you have just vanished from the discussion. Why? What happened? I think the least you can do is to say sorry to sunny deol and his fans for being so rude. I hope you will reply to this.

Sunny Deol is the best actor of the 90s decade. He is still the best. Sunny will surely forgive you, Mr Sampath.

Mr Sampath, hope you would have understood by now that your were wrong just like 92.7 and since they have stooped the show, you also aceept your mistake and keep mum.

Tom Cruise threatened to sue the creators of 'South Park' for making fun of him unless the show was never aired again. The show was taken off.

Carol Burnett sued 'Family Guy' because of how they portrayed him. Also won.

These are two shows most similar to 'Son Sunny', in that they have spoofs on real celebs. Making fun is allowed if it doesn't hurt someone's feelings or image like I have said before and both have been done in this case. This is a legal case of slander. A very strong one indeed, which is why the show has been taken right off. If they didn't consider it a strong case of slander, it would still be on.

I hope this answers your question, Sampath.

Sandeep Ghatge, you seems to be another moron along with Sampath, so both shut up!

The response to your blog, this one and the one before it, shows that Sunny is very popular among his fans and you are just trying to make your blog famous among people by writing again and again on him.

Just to inform you and the idiot Baishali who has written some crap in response to your post that 92.7 has stopped the cheap show, so it seems they got the message Sunny wanted to give.

Now you 2 per cent journo stop writing about Sunny, you are nobody but cheap dirt and should stop talking about an icon like Sunny.

I found something very interesting in your article and I quote: "So long as you don't slander or lie — you ought to be okay exercising your freedom of speech."

What the radio station is doing to Sunny Deol is unarguably slander (a malicious and defamatory statement or report), which is hurtful to him and his family and has probably been used to make fun of him in normal life as well.

So, I ask you, how can you support slander, when you say you are against it?

The rest of you, I ask ya'll to put yourself in his situation and ask yourself if action is warranted or not?

Desi11,

Can you present one — just one — example of "defamatory statement or report" from that show?

Now Suniel Shetty is all set to follow Sunny Deol's steps and sue a TV station. Ekta Kapoor and Manoj Kumar have already done it with movies.

All you cheap mimicry artists who really have no true talent and nothing funny to say except make fun of stars, your time is finally over.

Mr Deol, you've started a trend. Be proud of it.

Mr Sampath, you're so wrong that you really come across as a 2 cent journo.

First, Hollywood stars sue TV channels and magazines all the time for defamation. So saying Indians don't have a sense of humour is completely fictional and not supported by facts. If anything, this will start a trend in Bollywood and for the good because nobody should be allowed to make money by tarnishing your image.

Second, Sunny Deol is probably the most media-shy actor in the whole industry. If he were even a little publicity hungry he would still be a top star. His bad PR skills have cost him his career. The only actor to have given so many major blockbusters without a major banner. A true superstar. He's obviously hurt and not doing this for publicity.

Next time you write an article, please put a little research in. In the West you can't stain or damage anyone's image or sentiments or you shall have a lawsuit slapped on you. And it's high time India started following suit.

I fully support Sunny Deol and his lawsuit.

Dear Get smart,
if u want to live up to ur name, u better read the post before commenting. i have said more than twice that slander (or defamation) is unacceptable. And making fun of somebody is not the same as defamation.

I just logged in again to check the fan following of this article and found that the hardcore Sunny lovers, actually 'Lossers' (as one of you spelt it), don't have enough courage to tell their names before abusing someone or getting personal with someone just to defend 'Sun Sonny wid Papa' who doesn't even give a damn about your existence. And if you are being paid to do this, well... can't be helped. It's your job. I would again suggest you to take a chill pill!

Batman, this post is a bad writeup about Fake names like you with your sasta and tikau comments. It is NOt a bad post about Sunny per se. No prizes for guessing who's the real moron on THIS page! Keep up the posts, Sampath.

I find some of these comments (not the article, the comments) REALLY offensive to Sunny. DIVYA MEHTA (all CAPS) has gone to the extent of saying that its "raping one's dignity" (!!!) People, whoever you are, if I were Sunny, I'd definitely feel embarrased, if not insulted, by your overt fanhood (thinly disguised as comments about the blog above).

Well! It is expected that the Sunny Deol lovers will be like Sunny Deol... Like idol like fans. Anyway, for the Sunny lovers... guys, chill! The world is not as bad as Sunny thinks, you guys are making him worse. He is what he is only because people still talk about him. He would have been a long forgotten guy otherwise.

You moron, you have again come up with a bad writeup on Sunny Deol. It seems you are the biggest losser on this planet. Stop writing blogs and you will do so much good to the public.

G Sampath, you are not understanding what Sunny must have felt when day after day he and this father were made fun of in a cheap manner. If a 75-year-old(Dharmendra) is made fun of by being presented as farting on national radio then how would his son feel? I again ask you, if somebody does this to your father how would you react, when even your local shopkeeper may not know who your father is and here Dharmendra is a public figure for 50 years!

By again coming up with this blog you continue to show you are an insensitive person and due to people like you we have cheap things like son sonny being thrown at us in the name of humour.

Be a little human to somebody's sentiments, mister!

The point isn't the joke. The point is how low it gets. After a point sometimes a joke ceases to be that and becomes an insult. And I presume Mr Sampath is educated enough to know the difference.

You also have the audacity to claim that people are on Sunny Deol's payroll. Dude, let it go, you're not important or funny for that matter. Sunny Deol sure as hell doesn't know who you are.

Wow. You seem really hurt. Where's your sense of humour now?

An Indian icon goes and sues a radio station because he believes his image is being tarnished and costing him professionally, and we should all laugh at him. And someone calls you a two-cent journo (which is true, so we can laugh at it) and a takla (also true, thereby very funny) and you are suddenly hurt and call out all Indians and their sense of humour.

Look, I can laugh! 2 cent Takla journo... HAHA

In a nutshell, the number of responses you received goes to show that Sunny is not a self-proclaimed star but an actor who has reached where he has by his impressive array of films. (To gauge his star power, attend any event where he is present in North India, Canada or London.) I have nothing against you, in fact I agree that these things should be taken lightly, but again, individuals are individuals with a right to 'freedom of expression'! As you have pointed out! I sincerely hope they continue to mimic stars but lightheartedly. As for Sunny, many have piggybacked on his success, and his dialogues or songs have been used in other Bollywood films regularly. I must commend you for the parallels you draw, though, especially the historical context ones.

Is it perhaps time that Sampath and Sunny seek counselling for all that they have endured?

Mr Sampath, by the way if you carry out research regarding who can easily take out the big things (even an insult in the form of humour) with ease, it's INDIANS... OK... satisfied (lagta hai aapne Hindi film bahut kam dekhi hain ya toh Indians ki life mein jhaank ke dekha nahin hain). Up to how much extent SUNNY BABA will tolerate insults, which is not freedom of expression but raping one's dignity?