Saturday 23 November 2013

Laga Rey: Media in conversation with itself

Of the many questions being tackled in Shehzad Roy’s video, one is the problems of the media/entertainment industry itself. There are two areas where this point is made.
Firstly, throughout the video, Shehzad Roy is seen running away from some western agents. In the start of the video, he is thrown off the stage to make way for the politician in the video. That is symbolic of the restrictions on music scene at present and the lack of concerts and stage performances across the country. It also implies the growing amount of public speeches that politicians hold. Rather ironic because lately a lot of politicians use musicians in their campaigns to keep the audience glued. By the end of the video, Shehzad Roy is captured by the agents, implying that the dominant forces will not tolerate a message that goes against the status quo.

Secondly, in the end of the video, we see VJ Mani looking into the camera, reporting the events of the riot. He says: “aman ki soortehaal bahaal hai.” This obviously questions the veracity of the news reporting of the media and ethics it follows if any. But this point probably extends from the bigger one that state is in control of most things, media as well, and that’s probably why media cannot report freely and honestly. 

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