It was on July 23 last month that I read a report in Mid-Day which caught my attention. It mentioned that Zee5 is all set to release as many as 29 Pakistani shows on its OTT platform! It also led to the relaunch of the Zindagi channel for the Indian viewers.

This development was something that obviously shocked me. After all, the Bollywood film industry was forced to shun all its association with Pakistani actors after the Uri attack of September 2016. The episode happened 40 days before the release of Karan Johar’s film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil was to release. As luck would have it, it starred Pakistani actor Fawad Khan in a supporting role. Post the attack, a section of politicians demanded that Bollywood should boycott Pakistani artistes. Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) threatened Karan that they won’t let his film release unless he removes Fawad’s character from the film overnight. That, obviously, was not possible. Soon, more people joined in this ‘movement’. The ruling party at the Centre, BJP, did nothing to stop MNS from threatening Karan Johar, though KJo resides in a state which was also ruled by them (Maharashtra). The only thing they could do is ‘broker’ peace between the two parties so that Ae Dil Hai Mushkil could release without any problem. The film saw a peaceful light of the day but Karan was mercilessly trolled by self-declared nationalists for his ‘crime’.

The repercussion of this controversy was that Pakistani actors got banned from working in Bollywood. For some weird reason, Bollywood was still ‘allowed’ to have singers from the neighbouring country. Less than a year after the Uri attack, the whole nation got charmed by the recreated version of 'Mere Rashke Qamar' from Baadshaho, sung by Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. A few months later, music lovers fell in love with 'Dil Diya Gallan' crooned beautifully by Atif Aslam, in Tiger Zinda Hai. It’s only after the unfortunate Pulwama attack of February 2019 that self-declared patriots realized that we need to ban singers as well for revenge. Since then, even the singers from across the border have stopped working in Bollywood.

Hence, the decision of Zee5 to launch Pakistani shows was astonishing. I read the article and was sure that soon, there would be a backlash. But nothing of that sort happened. Then on July 31, Zee5 dropped the trailer of its first Pakistani web series, called Churails. Directed by Cake director Asim Abbasi, it stars Sarwat Gillani, Mehar Bano, Nimra Bucha, and Yasra Rizvi. The show revolves around the four women who run a detective agency that exposes the cheating husbands in Karachi.

I saw the trailer and was impressed by its quirkiness and bold quotient. I was scared to scroll down and check the comments as I expected tons and tons of hate, which is the norm nowadays. Nowadays, people are already presumed to be very angry with Indian-based celebrities like Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Mahesh Bhatt and of course, Karan Johar. I can’t imagine the volley of abuses they must have spewed on the actors and team of Churails; after all, they belong to ‘enemy country’.

I gathered courage and finally began to see the comments. And I couldn’t believe my eyes. The discussions and posts made by people seemed very cordial and respectful! Was I dreaming? People can be seen appreciating Pakistani makers and writers for making such path-breaking stuff and criticized Bollywood for not learning from them! I kept scrolling and kept waiting for that one revolutionary person who would have written ‘PKMKB’ or ‘Boycott Churails’ type of comments. There was none.




I kept a tab on Twitter for a few days, next. I was sure #BoycottChurails, #UnsubscribeZee5 or #UninstallZee5 would soon start trending. That didn’t happen, either!

Of course, it didn’t take me much time to understand why the self-appointed deshbhakts have gone into hibernation this time. First, let us understand how these boycott protests actually work, especially in context of Bollywood and web series. There’s a group of influential people with millions of followers, all staunch supporters of right-wing ideology. They have their masters, usually connected with political parties, who instruct them to start these boycott campaigns. In most cases, a time is decided and the hashtag is given in advance in a Google document. Then, at the designated time, millions of followers start using the hashtag in question and hence it started trending. Now, the regular netizens notice the ‘trend’. They feel a spontaneous movement has begun against Bollywood or some actor from the film industry. These people don’t want to feel left out or sometimes they do have a soft hatred towards the industry. Hence, they too start using the hashtag and hence the ‘movement’ grows further.

The next step is to target more gullible people on WhatsApp. As is common knowledge, the messaging app is where most rumours and misinformation gets generated and spread. The same group of people who started the ‘movement’ will create several messages which are provocative and which showcase members of Bollywood fraternity as sell-outs and traitors. They’ll push you to forward the said message in ‘national interest’. There are sensible people who rubbish these forwards and even inform the sender about the lies in the message. But most of the times, people happily share. The ‘movement’ further grows! The ‘movement’ would not have begun had these professional and organized trolls not even started the ‘boycott’ mania in the first place. And most of these movements don’t really make a difference to the lives of the people. For instance, was your life seriously affected because of Pakistani artistes in Bollywood? But you were made to believe otherwise. In short, you became a puppet in the hands of these people and they shamelessly used you for your selfish agenda.

The question that has surely risen in your mind is – why isn’t the right-wing trolls boycotting Zee5 then? The answer can be found in the first 3 letters of the name of the OTT platform – Zee! Zee5 is a part of the sprawling Zee Group, founded and run by a man called Subhash Chandra. He’s known to be a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is even quite close to him. His biography was launched by the Prime Minister himself, that too from his residence, in a high-profile event. One of the channels of the Zee group is the Hindi news channel Zee News. It openly flaunts its love for the ruling government and has time and again spread lies to favour BJP and show its opponents in negative light. And believe it or not, Subhash Chandra had stopped airing Pakistani shows on Zindagi channel less than a week after the Uri attack, in national interest of course!

Hence, it’s no surprise that Churails, presented by Zee5, has been spared the abuses and boycott campaigns by the ruling party. After all, it’s the ruling party that controls most of these right-wing influencers. And since the party command didn’t instruct the influencers, these professional trolls chose to look the other way when Churails trailers was dropped and even the series got released, on August 11. In turn, you, too, are okay with the development!

I know many of you still can’t believe what I have written here and have loads of questions for me as a counter. Let me pick few ones:

“I was not aware that Churails has released on Zee5. Or else, I would have surely protested”
Yes, it’s a possibility that you didn’t realize that the said show has dropped online. But many did. As of August 15 2:15 PM IST, it’s trailer on YouTube has got nearly 42 lakh views. Moreover, it has not released on any unknown platform but on Zee5, which is one of the biggest streaming portals in India. On YouTube, it has 3.86 million subscribers. It has lakhs of followers on social media websites as well. Churails was well promoted across these websites. Lakhs of people knew about its existence, including the professional trolls and their political masters.

“There’s not much of anger against Pakistan anymore. With time, the anger has subsided”
If only that was true! In June this year, T-Series faced severe backlash (again it was generated) for uploading a song sung by Pakistani singer Atif Aslam. The ‘criticism’ was so immense that T-Series had to remove the track and even tender an apology. I refuse to believe that the ‘anger’ against Pakistan was present till June 2020 but vanished within a month’s time, when the trailer of Churails released. This also makes it clear that if Karan Johar or Bhushan Kumar (of T-Series) or Aditya Chopra had backed Chudails, it would have also become a target of the trolls.

Try as much as you want. Put up as many excuses as you can think of. But the fact remains – you have been played all along all this while by the politicians. They used you. You let them. You didn’t realize they are using you. Instead, you felt patriotic. You considered yourself a ‘warrior’ who fulfilled his duty towards the country by insulting Bollywood personalities. Today, when an Indian channel has released a Pakistani show, the same netas have changed the rules. That’s because the channel owner is their ally and hence, he is immune. And yet, you are silent. You don’t feel cheated or used. Or maybe you do but you won’t accept. Or else, you might argue, “But what can I do?” The saddest part is that if tomorrow, for some reason, a boycott campaign starts against Churails, you’ll happily join in and make it clear that you are at their service for their selfish needs at their beck and call!

Is that what you really are, dear countryman? We have the largest workforce and we are easily amongst the world’s most smartest, creative and hard-working people. The country’s situation is concerning and there’s so much we can all do together. But instead, the government diverts our attention using silly hashtags. It makes villain out of people who are merely doing their job and working day and night to entertain us. Are we still going to give in to their wishes? Or are we going to speak and reject such useless movements that do nothing to improve our lives?

I have often revisited Churails trailer just to see the comments and to see the sanity out there, which has been missing on the internet since a long time. It feels so good to read people’s thoughts at a place where the government hasn’t jumped in to divide-and-rule. But on second thoughts, that’s because the government has chosen to step away to support its founder. I am waiting for the day when the people of this country make it loud and clear that government’s interference and stupid strategies won’t work and they need to focus on the real issues at hand. That’ll be the day when art will totally flourish and where boycott and bans will be relics of the past. This Independence Day, let’s hope that day comes soon!

P.S.: This post is not against Churails or Zee5 and doesn’t support any boycott campaign against them at all. I appreciate Zee5 for taking this initiative. I haven’t seen Churails but I shall watch soon and also looking forward to their other shows. Shailja Kejriwal, chief creative officer — special projects, Zee Entertainment, has hinted that Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan might also be seen in one of their upcoming shows. Bring it on!

DNA (December 3, 2017)

The Flag Week is on. Yes, the Armed Forces Week also referred to as the Flag Week is being celebrated between December 1 and 7. This is our time as a nation to express our gratitude and salute those in uniform who sacrifice their lives for us.

Akshay Kumar is one actor who has always extended his support to our jawans. The actor has not only been earmarking funds for the wives of the jawans who have lost their lives in the line of duty, but he also makes quiet visits to meet the BSF and other army contingents from time to time.

A BSF officer from Rajasthan confirms, “Akshay sir is in touch with me throughout the year. He has been lending support to the families of the slain jawans for a very long time now. And he has also encouraged many from within the industry to come forward for the cause. In February this year, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan came forward with a donation for the widow of Dharma Ram, a slain jawan from Barmer, who died in combat with terrorists in 2016.”

This time around, besides Akshay, Aamir Khan and Varun Dhawan are a part of the week-long campaign meant to spread awareness and urge people to come forward to make financial contributions to the families of martyrs and disabled soldiers.

SHOWING SUPPORT

SUBHASH CHANDRA HAS ALSO APPEALED TO THE CITIZENS
In his message to the citizens of India, Rajya Sabha MP, Subhash Chandra, reminds people that the first week of December is being celebrated as Armed Forces Week. He has appealed to all Indians to remember the sacrifices made by our army and by our jawans. Besides thanking our jawans for keeping vigil even under adverse climate and other challenging conditions, he has also appealed to citizens to donate online for bettering the lives of the men in uniform and that of their families.

AAMIR KHAN
In his video message, Aamir requests people to contribute to the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund. He adds, “The money contributed towards this Fund will go to wives and children of our martyred soldiers and to help soldiers who are disabled due to injuries suffered on duty. With this, we can show our soldiers or jawans the love and respect that we have for them.”

VARUN DHAWAN
Varun pointed out that whenever there’s a security threat or a natural calamity, the first people who come forth are our armed forces. In his video message, he added, “Our armed forces look after our security on the border in such a responsible manner, that they often sacrifice their happiness, time with their families, and even their lives. We respect their sacrifices and so every year we celebrate Armed Force Flag Day. But this year, we are celebrating our soldiers for this entire week.” He, too, urged people to contribute to the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund.

Divya Kaushik (BOMBAY TIMES; September 30, 2016)

It seems the music company that banned Sonu Nigam last year still holds a grudge against him
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; January 6, 2016)

Two songs that Sonu Nigam had rendered in the upcoming Lisa Ray and Jaaved Jaaferi-starrer 'Ishq Forever' have had to be re-recorded. Reason? The singer is facing the consequences of his apparent spat with entertainment head honcho, Subhash Chandra Goel, last year.

Sources suggest the film's makers had roped in Sonu for the songs, unaware that the music rights lies with Goel's company, Zee Musoc Company, which has allegedly banned him. The two sparred at a bash hosted by politico Amar Singh last April — Goel apparently told the singer that his channel had created him and he must acknowledge the fact. Sonu then said he has never shied away from accepting that, but maybe, Goel had not heard him say so. Sources say the retort upset the media mogul.

Later that month, Sonu claimed that Goel's company had banned him for tweeting in support of Aam Aadmi Party leader and 'poet friend' Kumar Vishwas, who was embroiled in a controversy for alleged insensitivity over a farmer’s suicide at a rally. He suggested that a news channel owned by Goel may have wrongly portrayed Vishwas.

Says a source, "The makers of 'Ishq Forever' got other singers on board as soon as they realised that Sonu's numbers would not be included in the film." Nadeem (of Nadeem-Shravan) has scored the music for the film.

Sonu stuck to a "no comments" stance while Shabbir Boxwala, producer of the film, confirms the story and says, "Yes, we have re-done two of our songs with Javed Ali and another singer. When we recorded the songs with Sonu, we were unaware of the ban."

Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; November 30, 2014)

Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; May 31, 2014)

Punit Goenka, 39, may have started off as a rebel, but has made his father Subhash Chandra proud today by being the successful MD and CEO of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, the flagship brand of the Zee group. He takes his professional decisions through consensus and looks up to his father for his principles and vision. He is a complete family man for whom his father's principle of standing by the word you have given is sacrosanct. Ahead of his upcoming new channel Zindagi (a first-of-its-kind Hindi channel which will carry content from across the border) on June 23, he opens up to Bombay Times about not just his channel, but also his own zindagi. Excerpts:

Why do you write your surname as Goenka even though your father writes Subhash Chandra?The joke is that it is to confuse the world. But the reality of it is that my great grandfather, who was very close to my father, during my naming ceremony just happened to call me 'Punit Kumar Goenka' and it remained that thereafter. My father, when he started Zee, did not want to be associated with any particular caste or religion, so had initially chosen to call himself Subhash Chander. But the international community could not pronounce it, so he renamed himself Subhash Chandra.

Talk about your father?He is very reserved. While he was born in a trader Marwari baniya family in Adhampur, Rajasthan, he moved to Hissar, where I was born. At a young age of 17, he was pulled out of his education and put in business, as the business was going through a bad phase. And from that time, he had the responsibility of taking care of his entire family and had a tough life. He is a strict father and a man of principles and that is what I admire about him. My younger brother Amit and I have some childhood memories of going on holidays with him, but mostly our memories are only about him working. Now, I see him far more relaxed as a businessman. The way we see him with his grandchildren is completely different from the man we grew up with. Our mother was more our support system while growing up.

Was it is an obvious choice for you to join your father?I was brought up in Delhi and most of my life was spent in boarding schools. I went first to Sanawar in Class V after which I did my high school in Switzerland. I then had to come back to Mumbai as my father said, 'I have wasted enough money on you. You don't deserve it. Come back, take admission, do B.Com and start working.' All my friends were moving to London or the US to study, whereas I had to come back and do B.Com. I didn't like returning home leaving my free life there. But I came back, started working at 18 and completed my B.Com by correspondence. I was more the rebel of the family. I was the first one in the family to have a love marriage. My wife Shreyasi used to live in the same building, Jolly Maker 1. We were friends, but our romance started later, due to common friends in Sydenham College. Friendship led to infatuation, led to several fights, before we decided three-and-a-half years later with two break-ups in between that we wanted to get married. It was a difficult thing for my family to accept, as in the eyes of my father, I was not capable of taking care of my family, even though he was doing very well. That's the man he is and his principles are such that if you are single-handedly not capable of taking care of a family, then you don't deserve to have a family. At that time, I thought I used to fear him, but now I realise that it was more out of respect. And today, I have become more friends with him. He never hit us. I have always worked with him and trained in several companies before being given a position. I started as the executive assistant to executive director Rajeev Santwan. I failed terribly in my first venture, which was to look after Zee Records that I ran into the ground in a year. I then became the CEO of Dish TV and was headquartered in Delhi for a year. Even though I was very passionate about it, living in Delhi just didn't work for me. I just didn't like the business environment and the people and culture of Delhi. I came to my father and said, 'This is not working out.' I then came back to Mumbai and worked my way up to become the MD and CEO of Zee Entertainment that today is our flagship company.

Who are you emotionally most attached to? My younger brother Amit. From early days, we have been more friends than brothers. I have never been uncomfortable sharing anything with him and he is a great anchor in my life. I didn't even realise when from being a protective elder brother we came to becoming buddies, sharing everything. And I know that this is a bond that will last forever. It's pretty obvious to my wife also. She knows that if I get a call from him even in the middle of the night, I will just get up and leave. I got married at a very young age while Amit was still a bachelor then, so he continues to live with my father while I live with my wife and kids. Eventually, we will all stay together and are building our family home in Churchgate. My father is more attached to him too and they are both alike. They are both always thinking of new stuff to do, whereas I like to focus on one thing at a time. They can multitask, I can't, which is why Amit runs close to five businesses while I run only one. I am a consensus kind of person, but my father finds me very soft. My father is more practical and a visionary and is a faster decision-maker than me. Visions don't come to me so easily. It comes to my brother.

In what way were you a rebel?I realise now what my father used to tell me and how right he was and it echoes in my head. By the time you realise that your father was right, you will have a son who thinks that you are wrong. When I was called back from Switzerland, I used to feel, we are not poor, then why am I being subjected to this? I may not be an 'A' student but at least I was not failing. I was getting 50% and would rather have time with friends and have beer as against studying. I started smoking at 15 and would flirt with girls. Even during my affair with my wife, I had two breakups and that time I would be flirting. Fathers always know everything about their sons. He hated it that I started smoking early as he used to smoke. And now he hates it more as both he and my brother have given it up. He didn't like the fact that just because it is easy for you, you don't care a shit about life. He would tell me, 'You have not seen the true meaning of what is true life.' I used to feel I have not seen hardships so how do you want us to know. But failures in life teach you many things. While it took me time to get my head on straight, I know that today he is proud of me.

Your new channel Zindagi launches June 23. Talk about it?To start with, it will have the best content from Pakistan. The way we currently tell our stories in India on TV is very different from the way in which some of the evolved audiences want to consume it. For instance, the differentiating factor will be that these are real life stories. The heroines in these shows don't get up decked up as if they are going for a wedding. They are not shot on some mega set but are based on real locations. We also have a lot of content from Turkey and Latin America that we will be remaking for the Indian market as the kind of things they show there are not what we can show in India on TV.

Have you been to Pakistan?My first visit was with the Zee delegation with my father as his executive assistant. We were state guests but my motivation to go there was that I had a few friends there from my school in Switzerland. So I managed to convince my father to get my visa extended by four days. Pakistanis are not any different from the way it is here. They may not go out clubbing, but they are just like us in India.What was your motivation to launch the Zee music label?The industry was suffering from a monopoly situation and while we were trading in the music business, we saw an opportunity to build an IP. Javed Akhtar sahab representing the industry reached out to my father and me, we met him and saw the opportunity and realised that to build our digital strategy, this was a great asset to have. One of the things my father has always been very passionate about has been owning the IP of content. So, while you can sell music for other people you are only traders. The industry's motivation of course was different.

Did the industry's fight against T-Series make it easier for you?Had the business been easy my father would not get into it. He has never treaded the weaker path anyways. And that is what gives us the kick to deliver what he sees. For me, it's never about ego, my decisions are always driven by the business perspective. And well, we are happy as we have signed on over 30 films and have the entire Fox and Viacom slate already.  

Gaurav Dubey (MID-DAY; March 15, 2014)

Reams have already been devoted to covering the royalty issue between music company T-Series and a bevy of singers and music composers. Recent instances include the much-publicised controversy that broke out when actor-turned-producer Abhay Deol decided to take on T-Series by supporting the rights of the music director trio, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

Similarly, Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan were shown the door upon demanding royalty; their songs were then re-recorded with other singers.

For quite some time now, the industry seems to have been unable to resolve this conflict. But it looks like a solution is not so far away. If sources are to be believed, Zee is all set to take on T-Series with its own music label. What’s more, this label is apparently pro musicians and is considering giving them royalty.

Says a source, “The chairman of Essel Group, Subhash Chandra, called for a meeting with the industry’s top music directors, lyricists and producers where they were informed about Zee’s music label. He stressed on the fact that the company will seriously consider the amended copyright clause that deals with paying royalty to music composers and lyricists.” This secret meeting is said to have included director Vikramaditya Motwane, filmmaker Vipul Shah, actor-filmmaker Arbaaz Khan and some leading music directors from the industry.

When informed about this, Bhushan Kumar of T- Series said, “Music is a big market and recently it has incurred us losses, so we have now diversified into film production. Besides, we have always welcomed healthy competition from big names.”

Kailash Kher is happy with this development. He says, “Some people are not ready to give singers their due but there are a few good people in the industry who follow the rules. We respect Zee’s ideology.”

Sonu Nigam, who has been fighting the royalty battle for a long time now, sounds relieved. He says, “For a musician like me, who is loved and appreciated by people, it is difficult to accept a scenario where an autocratic, unrepentant set of people snatch away my songs and make others sing them. So this news is a breath of fresh air.” The new music label has apparently acquired music rights of a few films and this list could include Shah Rukh Khan starrer Happy New Year, Akshay Kumar starrer Holiday, and a film being made by Vashu Bhagnani.

Lyricist Sameer, who was present at the meeting, says, “Zee is reviving its music label and this is great for us, because they have promised to follow the new copyright law which will give singers royalty and performance rights.” Music composer Ehsaan Noorani, who also attended the meeting, points out that healthy completion is always welcome. “It’s good to have more music companies distributing and acquiring music. Copyright laws apply to everyone, but their implementation by record companies is taking a long time. A lot of administration and monitoring work needs to be done for it to be smoothly executed.”

Punit Goenka, CEO of Zee Entertainment, remained unavailable for comment. Anurag Bedi, business head, Zee Entertainment, said, “ When the time is right, we will surely comment on this.”