Bollywood industry cans New Year celebration plans post the death of the Delhi gang rape victim

The unpardonable death in Delhi on Saturday morning of the gang rape victim cast an all-pervasive pall of gloom over the film industry. Many stars and filmmakers called off their new year plans. Says a source close to the family, “There’s absolutely no appetite for celebration in the Bachchan parivar. Both Amitji and Jayaji are extremely upset by what has happened in Delhi. All plans in the Bachchan family for the New Year have been cancelled.” Other top notch celebrities, like the Kapoors--Rishi, Neetu and Ranbir --and the Roshans, have called of their plans in the light of the tragedy. Hema Malini had planned an elaborate New Years get-together for her daughter Esha and son-in-law (their first New Year after the wedding). That stands cancelled as of now. In fact one of the above showbiz icons told this writer not to broadcast the no-celebration plans. “Isn’t it rather obvious that we have nothing to celebrate this New Year’s? How can we even think of partying at a time when the nation weeps? We in the entertainment business are human beings too,” said the icon. Shabana Azmi who planned a New Years eve party at her farm-house in Lonavala with her husband Javed Akhtar says she is in no mood for any celebration. “We are doing nothing to celebrate the New Year out of respect for the brave heart who lost her life on Saturday after putting up a valiant fight that brought the people of our country together as one nation demanding safety for India’s daughters.” Shabana’s colleague Naseeruddin Shah blames our films for desensitizing the country against rape. Naseer says, “I’m afraid our population has become desensitized to rape because of cinema. In our movies it is an act that is either foiled or avenged by the hero. So I don’t think people have a realistic view of this ghastly crime. For the first time the gruesome details of what transpired during the actual act of rape came out in the public domain. I think that caused the public outrage. And that’s good. I just hope this outrage is sustained and doesn’t become one more token protest.” Post the truly tragic death of the gang rape victim in Delhi singer Alisha Chinoi has demanded Shariat laws to deal with sexual offenders in India. Angered embittered and frightened for the future of femininity Alisha says, “India should show no mercy for sexual offenders. The monsters who did this to Damini must be dealt with in a way most appropriate for them. We must have Shariat laws in this country. An eye for an eye, a life for a life.” Pooja Bhatt pretty much expresses the somber mood of the moment when she says, “I will spend the New Year thanking the Lord for the privilege of being safe and alive. I will be going for long walks in the woods and abstaining from celebrations for sure.” Alisha feels women in India are vulnerable to hellish fears. “Why do we have to live in fear of our gender, our womanhood and of our sexuality being under a constant threat? The entire nation is in a pathetic sick condition. India has lost its soul. Hell is a better place to be.” So sickened is Alisha by the brutal violence that the rape victim underwent that she feels death has been a kind of release for her. “Don’t cry for her, India. She now rests in peace.”