Moment of Truth: OTT Web series “XXX 2” polluting Young Indian Minds.

(Divyaa Kummar)

Ekta Kapoor is the undisputed queen of television and each time the lady is in the news, even if for all the wrong reasons, it makes me wonder, how the bad publicity is adding to her ever growing empire.

Her web series, XXX Season 2 has got many feathers ruffled, the public, the armed forces and the even apex court.

The Supreme Court today slammed producer Ekta Kapoor for showcasing “objectionable content” in her OTT series ‘XXX’. The court remarked that she was polluting the minds of the younger generation of the country. The apex court made these remarks while it was hearing a petition challenging the arrest warrant issued against Ekta Kapoor for allegedly degrading soldiers in ALT Balaji’s web series.

A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and C T Ravikumar said that something had to be done as the producer is polluting the minds of India’s younger generation.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, Ms.Kapoor’s lawyer had submitted in SC that the matter is filed before the Patna high court but may not be listed for hearing soon.

Her lawyer said the content on the OTT platform is only available to those with a subscription and there is freedom of choice in the country. To his remark, the court asked, “What kind of choice are you providing to the people? On the contrary you are polluting young minds”

I couldn’t agree more. What kind of choice are we being provided really? The soft power of the content we consume is far reaching. It has the power to pollute our mind or if used in the right direction it can be a torch bearer of positivity.

Infact, Hollywood has been doing the latter and exporting the larger than life American Dream till date, making everyone want a piece of it. That’s why the obsession to live the American Dream continues and the Desi Dream??

We can keep dreaming, till we keep obsessing about sipping Turmeric Latte, courtesy the Bollywood, OTT and Intellectual Clan that will keep us away from the sunshine of Haldi Doodh and the pride it might bring with it.

If I would like to take a lead from our honorable SC Judge’s remark of polluting young minds through content and not having any choice in the matter. Indeed it seems to have become the norm for content creators across Bollywood, OTT and independent intellectuals to do just that.

A study done by IIM Ahmedabad, Prof Dheeraj Sharma, has shocking results that Indian films are silently working against the Sikh and Hindu Communities.

The likes of Ekta Kapoor, if they want, can use this very soft power to the Desi advantage.

The soft power of Hollywood helps America export its culture everywhere with not just pride, but arrogance if I may say. .

A scene from the movie Sita Ramam has a dialogue where the Pakistani official says “They are bloody Indians, they don’t respect their soldiers”. As hurtful and malignant it sounds, sadly it seems to be the truth.

Soldiers in this country are seriously treated with disrespect by an ungrateful public.

Even educated people who on some ideological pretext have on many occasions sided with the terrorists in the name of some misconstrued secularism.

In the wake of all this the Czarina of TV, Ekta Kapoor is found to be in the middle of a controversy surrounding her due to her web series XXX Season 2 where the portrayal of an army officer and his wife hurt the sentiments an army jawan in Begusarai village of Bihar who initially filed the petition against her.

As a proud and patriotic Indian I take this personally. The Indian entertainment industry has made hurting the sentiments of soft targets like a particular majority community or anything purebred Indian or pure patriotic sentiment.

I wonder what would have happened to Our Bollywood’s Bharat of yore; Mr.Manoj Kumar in today’s woke secularism? Would he to be labelled as too desi or a nationalist? I guess the answer is sadly yes. Once a symbol of patriotic pride in Hindi Cinema he too has been reduced to a meme.

An impressionable young audience is growing up with no desi Indian pride. Instead we have been sold on a culture where anything remotely Indian, the army, the customs, the language all are to be looked down upon.

Worse they are fodder for content and drawing room conversations where they can be mocked at with colonial arrogance.

The current controversy to me is just a sad reminder that finally imperialism has won over the Indian or should I say Bhartiya, no wait there will be a protest, I mean Hindustani (Phew!!!) mindset.

In the wake of Bollywood and OTT content making anti India content its favourite thing to do, it comes as a respite that the Supreme Court has taken this matter seriously.

This practice must be kept in check considering the soft power of the visual medium has long lasting effects at the subconscious level and can change people’s thinking and even pollute it as mentioned by the apex court.

It is time for more stringent laws in the OTT and entertainment space. Even netizens were not happy with the XXX Season 2 episode of ‘Pyaar aur Plastic’ which featured the particular objectionable story

May this be a lesson for all those who sit in the position of soft power as content creators.

I urge them to create, entertain, to empower, to make positive changes. Creating content to irk or titillate by hurting people’s sentiment will not be tolerated. Jai Hind!

(The writer is an Independent Media professional, Communication Coach, Radio Personality, Anchor and Performing Arts Artiste. She has a deep love for nature, animals, spirituality and culture.)