Samarth Goyal (HINDUSTAN TIMES; August 26, 2020)

Singer-songwriter Neha Bhasin has filed a complaint with the Mumbai Police’s Cyber Crime branch after she was “trolled, and given rape threats”.

She says, “I waited for a week, tried warning them. But it just kept getting worse. I couldn’t take it. I posted a photo of my father who passed away two years back, and in the comment section, people are threatening me saying I’ll be raped inside my house.”

Last year, Bhasin, after defending rapper-composer Badshah on Twitter, had faced a barrage of abuse “which included many young girls dishing out threats”, by the “so called fans” of (the K-pop sensation) BTS. “I don’t know Badshah personally. But he was being trolled because he said something about buying google ad words. I’d just said that every artiste needs to be respected, and added that I’m not a big fan of K-pop. Since then, for nearly two months I was abused,” says Bhasin.

Now, ever since it was reported that Badshah was questioned by the police about buying fake likes, The BTS Army, as the fans of the South Korean band like to call themselves, bullied Bhasin to apologize for her remarks.

She adds, “They called my managers at 1 am, and told them to ‘keep me in check’. There’s a video on YouTube, where a young boy is openly threatening to rape me.”

Through her complaint, she hopes to achieve two things. She explains, “First, I want people to know that abusing anyone for an opinion you don’t agree with, is a criminal offence. Freedom of speech is not freedom to peddle hate. Secondly, most of them are young kids. It’s really down to their parents to keep them in check.”

Social media platforms, Bhasin says, “say they are against cyber bullying, but they don’t do anything about it. It’s time that they are held accountable too”.

BOMBAY TIMES (March 18, 2020)

As the world continues to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organisation Director General invited celebrities like Korean pop boy band BTS, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Deepika Padukone to join and educate people via their Safe Hands challenge initiative. The WHO started the campaign in an attempt to spread awareness about washing hands in the right manner during the coronavirus crisis. Since maintaining personal hygiene is one of the key ways to stay safe amid the outbreak, while doing the Safe Hands Challenge one has to share an instructional video on the right technique to wash hands.

Among the other stars nominated for the challenge are Arnold Schwarzenegger and model Christy Turlington. Ghebreyesus’ tweet nominating the celebrities read, “I now nominate: @deepikapadukone @priyankachopra @Schwarzenegger @CTurlington to take the #SafeHands challenge by sharing their video & calling on at least another 3 people to join us! Together, we can beat #COVID19!”

Earlier, Priyanka had shared a video urging people to avoid handshakes and go with namaste amid the coronavirus scare. She also shared a post spreading awareness about maintaining basic hygiene to avoid the spread.


K-pop band BTS is also among the celebrities nominated for the Safe Hands challenge

Bombay Times caught up with music maestro A R Rahman at a recent event where he spoke about the need to keep reinventing oneself, his new fashion choices, the popularity of Korean music and his daughters, Khatija and Raheema, who have stepped into the music industry.

Bidding adieu to his all-black attire, Rahman has been upping his fashion game. His latest music video saw him making an entry on the screen in shimmery silver shoes. The ace musician and composer credits his wife, Saira Banu, for his styling. He said, “She would complain a lot about my outfits and styling. So, these days, I just accept whatever she picks because it makes her happy. She has friends in New York and Los Angeles and suitcases full of clothes keep coming home (laughs!).”

The Oscar-winning composer recently worked on a project where he had to mentor other musicians. Talking about the time when he was being mentored, Rahman told us, “I have been mentored a thousand times. First, it was my Carnatic music teachers and my father (R K Shekhar). Then, there were people like Mani Ratnam and Shekhar Kapur. Also, there was Andrew Lloyd Webber (English composer), who believed that I could write music. The idea is to always keep learning. Whenever we think that we know something new, that ‘something new’ stagnates. Inquisitiveness and the constant search for knowledge are what keep you going; without that nothing exists.”

Rahman says that since he started his training in music early in his life, he had a hard time as a student in school. “I was a bad student, because I was also working when I was studying in school. I would often get scolded for my poor attendance. I would work through the night, and in the morning, I would be at the studio,” he recalled.

Rahman, who has won two Grammy Awards for Slumdog Millionaire (2008), said that the prestigious international music award is just the roof, and one should aim for the sky. Citing the example of the Korean music industry, he said, “There is this famous saying, ‘Aim for the sky and you will reach the ceiling. Aim for the ceiling, and you will stay on the floor.’ One should always have high aspirations and ambitions. Look at the way Koreans are spending millions on marketing their music. Today, their music is almost mainstream. Everybody is talking about BTS — the South Korean boy band! I don’t even understand that music, but it’s so popular. Now, they seem to have taken over the movies, too, what with Parasite winning big at the Oscars.”

Like his son, A R Ameen, Rahman’s daughters, Khatija and Raheema, are also musically inclined. Last year, they performed on the stage for the first time with their father at the U2 concert in Mumbai. “They are taking music more seriously now. They never expected to be on stage along with me at the U2 concert. We are a musical family, and I believe that their musical education is very important. So, after me, they can take forward what I began,” he signed off.