Do we need melodramatic effects to understand Bengaluru mass molestation?

A group of women were mass molested in Bengaluru on January 1

By: Majid Hyderi |
January 5, 2017 7:03 pm

On the New Year night, India witnessed its worst-ever onslaught on women’s safety. Amid frenzy celebrations, numerous women fell prey to mass molestation in Bengaluru, country’s IT hub. But the tragedy has failed to awaken the nation, the way it happened four years back when Nirbhaya was raped and murdered in the national capital region.

But then, does it mean that we need to add melodramatic effects to feel the pain of Bengaluru incident? This question came to my mind while watching some of the news channels which has spiced up the story with some melodrama sequences from the Bollywood films.

The CCTV footage showed a girl walking down the street getting molested by a predator. The onlookers are seen standing as mute spectators. But if this footage is not enough, a few news channels added voice effects like Amitabh Bachchan’s powerful dialogues from the film Pink? Amitabh Bachan is undoubtedly an impressive voice in the Indian cinema, but is the real footage not enough to send a strong message? Pink is, after all, a film and not reality.

A race to take lead in TRP ratings is quite expected in this age of media boom. But adding colours to human tragedy is like adding an insult to their injury. The black and white footage of victim’s helplessness don’t need Pink’s dialogue but a human heart to feel the pain. In the post-Nirbhaya India, disciplinarian Bajrangi Bhaijan exists but only in a Salman Khan starrer movie.

While government speaks of Naari Shakti, concerns over woman safety have widened from molestation to mass-molestation. But then after days of silence, police moved a step ahead and has finally filed an FIR!

Indeed, Mera desh badal raha hai, aagay badh raha hai!