Column

Do we need anymore superheroes? There’s a new one in town and he’s an alcoholic homeless who flies like Superman but does considerable damage to the roads during his take-offs and landings.

In fact, when BMC commissioner Jairaj Pathak saw Hancock last night, he couldn’t help wondering how this sozzled superhero would have been the perfect scapegoat for all his potholed problems!

I absolutely loved the concept of an uncouth, irresponsible superhero with zero accountability and don’t wear his underwear on the outside. Understandably, he needs a PR guy who can give him an image makeover. This is the basic premise of the latest Will Smith blockbuster that’s enjoyable for over an hour before it self-destructs in its final reels due to an in-built plot twist…

There was a time when some of my favourite superheroes led simpler lives with less demanding fans. For example, I never questioned the logic of why the Phantom ventured out of the jungle in a blue raincoat, walked into a sleazy saloon and asked for a glass of milk!

But times have changed and a new generation of cynical fans are forcing them to be realistic and insisting they tackle the flipside of being a superhero. Like Superman struggling with his new status as a gay icon though he can only blame his adopted mother for stitching him those blue tights and red underwear!

Or Spiderman finding himself in a “sticky” situation with public interest litigations filed against him for squirting web fluids all over the city while swinging from building to building.

There is also rising petrol prices forcing Batman to set an example by selling his Batmobile and using a bicycle to chase The Joker! And loin-clothed Tarzan finding himself in a Mallika Sherawat situation for indecent exposure!

Back to Hancock, some of Mumbai’s Page 3 regulars might have done a better job of PR for the notorious superhero than the Jason Bateman character in the film. After all, what’s the big deal about sending Hancock to jail? It’s so passé! What Hancock needs to do is attend every party in town, send newspapers his photographs with firang bombshells, take part in a reality show, announce through a source that he’s been offered the next James Bond film and act surprised after leaking news about making some paltry donations to charity!

This week another reclusive superhero with a PR problem arrives in town. Welcome Batman aka The Dark Knight!