Medium And The Massage

The love-hate relationship between the media and the celebrities

Updated on: 7 February 2024 7:25 pm

The love-hate relationship between the media and the celebrities it chooses to lionise then denigrate almost overnight is a result of the fact that celebrities use the media almost as much as the media uses them.

Arundhati Roy has used the media to publicise her views on Bandit Queen, the nuclear explosion and the Narmada Dam. Yet Roy resents press attention and generally refused to give interviews after she won the Booker Prize. Roy plays with the media probably as unfairly as the media plays with her.

Bina Ramani was a hot favourite of the glossy pages until the Jessica Lall murder last year. The reportage of the murder focused almost entirely on Ramani and her daughters lifestyles and Ramani was crucified by the very people who had once made her a star.

The voyeuristic interest in Suhaib Illyasis life, sexuality and marriage is a result of the intense publicity that Illaysi himself has never tried to avoid.

Ramona Garware was a well-photographed Mumbai socialite when her millionaire husband Jaideep Garware committed suicide. The media focused attention on Ramonas parties and drug addiction and tacitly almost blamed her for Jaideeps woes.