In an age of digital communication, open letters are still possibly the fastest way to get your word around. Standing testimony to the fact are open letters penned by Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar and more recently Mary Kom, addressing the sensitive issue of molestation and rape. The letters hogged the virtual space, making sure what transpired between the celebrities and their kids was for all to see. A few days prior to the release of his movie Pink, Amitabh Bachchan penned an open letter to his granddaughters. It encouraged Aradhya Bachchan and Navya Nanda to stand on their own two feet and not to let society dictate their actions. While one faction of the readers praised the actor for writing the letter, a section of the Twitterati called it a mere publicity stunt for his film. Whether it was for publicity’s sake or not, the letter became an inspiration for other celebrities to write open letters — Farhan Akhtar and Mary Kom. While Farhan’s letter speaks of his helplessness as a father to a daughter who lives in a society full of sexual violence, Mary’s is a personal take on how she herself was molested as she urges her sons to grow up to respect women. While most readers have praised Mary for her stark and eloquent writing, some seem to doubt the sincerity of the letters written by the men.
“The recent letter that Amitabh Bachchan penned for his granddaughter was very sexist in my opinion. He talks about the legacy of his great grandfather but does not care to speak of the great grandmother! The letter was unknowingly steeped in patriarchy besides being a publicity stunt. I haven’t read Farhan’s letter but somehow cannot relate to anything that does not stem from personal experience,” says celebrity hairstylist and feminist Sapna Bhavnani. “I am tired of men telling women how to feel or dress or behave or be patronising about rape. I am tired of seeing men in real life and reel life wearing capes and coming out to ‘save’ women.”
She goes on, “I respect Mary Kom for her letter. I think it is very impactful and motivational to hear people who have experienced their story and have decided to share it.”
While author at the feminist blog Ladies Finger, Nisha Susan praises the idea of the open letters as a form of starting a dialogue in society, she too agrees that the content in Big B and Farhan’s letters came across as preachy. “I don’t think that there is anything special or personal in the letters that Amitabh Bachchan or Farhan Akhtar wrote. They sounded like general speeches, preachy and impersonal. If one of them had said something like, ‘I see this inequality in my field — in the film industry — everyday and I will do everything I can to make it more equitable for women, I would have found it more interesting. After all, who’s going to go and check if Amitabh Bachchan is being nice to his granddaughter or Farhan Akhtar is giving his daughter freedom While I appreciate the attempt, I wish that they had been more personal, like Mary Kom, who spoke about her own experience.”
Actor and theatre person, Kalki Koechlin, on the other hand, wholly praises the attempt. Having read Farhan’s letter, she says that it is as personal as it gets, since the fear of a father for his daughter’s safety is very real. “I think that it’s great that these people have stepped up and spoken about this as something that is affecting their own lives. Farhan, as a father, feels helpless when his daughter is unsafe. He is one of the most vocal feminists in Bollywood right now and he has tried to propagate the message through his songs, at his concerts and if he’s made use of his Bollywood fame to do it, it’s fine because he’s talking about something that needs to be talked about,” she says.
Actress and director of the iconic play Vagina Monologues, Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal agrees, “Silence is equal to death. When a celebrity is writing an open letter, it brings attention to the issue. While they can definitely follow it up by creating forums for debate and discussions, it is all right even if they choose not to, because they have already thrown the matter open to the public.”
Nisha too believes that any kind of positive dialogue about social inequalities is necessary in the current social context. “Even if these letters are simply about publicity, it’s fine. Who are we to moralise the issue If you’re a public figure and your movie is talking about sexual violence, then I think that it’s fine to promote the film in this way because then at least it spreads a useful message,” she says.
Speaking from personal experience, Kalki says, “It is important to choose how you want to talk about issues. The first time I spoke about it on a personal level was at a conference where I said that most of my friends, and even I had had to face sexual abuse at some point in our lives and suddenly everyone only wanted to know my story, because I’m a celebrity and that’s just not something I’m comfortable talking about outside of a select group of people. So, I’m learning as I go along, to find a positive way to express the message through a play or through writing that gets my point across and ensures that it’s not misused.”
Inputs by Julie Sam
