Gossip

Gossip is usually defined as an act of spreading news from person to person, especially rumors or private information.

We Indians indulge in this time-pass hobby on regular basis. Now to say that it’s only the women folk who go about with the chit-chatting process would be very presumptuous, in simpler words men also take the lutf of this activity as much as women. And isn’t there an old saying, “You don’t have to be male, to be a bitch”.

For women it’s their kitty parties or stroll in the local compound with their close knitted group, where they exchange various types of information and for men its usually office canteen or during evening drinks at the near-by pup. Talks range from ‘neighbor’s daughter is dating a sleazy scum bag’ to ‘who is the boss’s favorite employee this week and why’. Nobody is spared here – family members, work mates, disliked housing committee members and sometimes-even group buddies are targeted.

But I guess the most common and most widely enjoyed target of gossipmongers is our filmee line, in one word ‘Bollywood’. Because they belong to a limelight industry and their daily-to-daily activities are stuffed in our faces by the ever-popular Page 3 section, we kind off tend to treat these people as public property. We don’t care to verify whether the gossip details even possesses 10% of truth or is plain glam-sham lie, we are just happy to add on our own mirch-masala and pass it on to others with open ears.

A gossip can turn an ordinary actor to a superstar or be responsible for the downfall of a famous personality; such is its power. If you have seen the movie Gossip, it clearly shows how a fun seeking gossip experiment between few friends nearly lands up ruining the lives of two innocent individuals. Though most gossip related to Bollywood revolves around topics such as who-is-bedding-whom, which camp does one belong to, who is most hated/liked by the industry, etc. but sometimes things are taken a bit to far. If someone happens to see a male actor kissing one of his female co-actors (innocently), this fact gets twisted in so many ways that even a simple friendship gesture ends up with the two having an affair.

Most of these Bollywood gossips start from the make-up room and movie sets by some make-up artistes or some pissed off crewmember. Depending on the quality of the gossip, they are either passed onto fellow crewmembers and/or media. Media then splashes it across the Page 3 section or at times even terms it as Breaking News, which the general public reads with great enthusiasm and marks it as an agenda for discussion at the next party or meet up – not to forget that each stage adds it own layer of spiciness on the actual reality.

For some Bollywood personalities it works as an advantage (after all who doesn’t love free publicity) examples, the likes of Bhatts, Sherawats, Sawants and Hashmis. But some don’t tend to take it all the lightly, like certain Khans, Kapoors and Chopras.

However the good bit is that (most) gossips generally fade out at the same speed they make an entry, so once these filmee leeches have had their share of fun with a certain tale, they move on in search of another.

I will end by sharing a simple rule about gossips and it applies to all of its kinds – Either you Ignore it OR you Pass it on.