
As I write this column, reports are streaming in that Saif Ali Khan has recorded his police statement on the stabbing and attempted robbery case. But a lot else has transpired on the sidelines from the fateful morning of January 16, when the attempt took place, till date - in our imagination, conversations, calls, WhatsApp texts, Instagram reels and media shows.
Despite an official statement from Kareena Kapoor Khan “respectfully and humbly” requesting “the media and paparazzi to refrain from relentless speculation and coverage”, it is exactly what has come to pass.
The Khan family hasn’t been left alone by the unrelenting coverage going overboard in its quest for ratings, as every other living room in the country has been waiting to know each minute detail in the chain of events.
New paradigms have been set over the last 10 days of saturation coverage - from the screams of his younger son Jehangir’s nanny to confronting the intruder, from the stabbings and a piece of knife stuck in the spine to the surgery at Lilavati Hospital, from the auto driver who rushed him to the hospital to his health insurance package, from the alleged Bangladeshi migrant criminal to its fallout on Indo-Bangladesh relations, and the mismatch between the intruder initially seen on CCTV and the one arrested.
There have been some laughable “revelations” - one claimed it was Khans’ child Taimur who took his dad to the hospital - and an inconceivably shoddy job of rounding up random suspects and naming them before even a preliminary enquiry.
As Kareena said, in a challenging time when they have been trying to process things, such “constant scrutiny and attention are not only overwhelming, but also pose a significant risk to safety”. She urged that their boundaries be respected and they be given space to heal and cope.
It reminded me of a column by media critic Shailaja Bajpai where, in the context of an unfolding tragedy being covered on TV, she had written how the omnipresent cameras wouldn’t allow people to grieve or even die in solitude, that in the times of media overkill we are left with no space to take shelter, not even in the privacy of our graves.
Yes, this circus isn’t new in town. We witnessed a similar free-for-all following the untimely deaths of Sridevi and Sushant Singh Rajput. In the Saif case, it’s also reflective of how stardom is getting recast in the times of the overwhelming presence of social media and how stars truly have nowhere to hide, even in the proverbial ivory towers they are supposed to inhabit.
Much of it has to do with their own choices. They have consciously decided on spreading themselves thin, letting go of the mystique of yore. New-age celebrities are willingly available for the gaze of all. They have deliberately courted the paparazzi - be it at airports and family dinners, or weddings and funerals - as though being out of sight for even a moment would mean out of mind forever. Ironically, it’s precisely this self-positioning that has deprived them of refuge from attention even when they truly need it.
But why point a self-righteous finger at the media or the stars, when the voyeur, detective, judge and jury all live in each one of us. It’s human to be curious, but only till it doesn’t get extreme and obsessive. Some of the comments, memes and posts on social media have been downright offensive, particularly the toxic ones questioning Kareena being at the party and returning home drunk. I am not even coming to the crass ones with political and religious overtones, or those wondering how Saif could have recouped so quickly after the surgery.
What has been on display is a pernicious sense of entitlement and resentment for the lives of others - in this case the rich and famous - and deriving vicarious pleasure out of their misfortune.
On the one hand, there was the burglar who invaded their home, and on the other are we, the virtual intruders, trespassing on their lives with impunity.
We have been cruel scavengers one moment, Doubting Thomases the other, and conspiracy theorists the next. Is Bollywood under some kind of threat? Why target the Queen of Suburbs, Bandra? Is there any link here with Baba Siddiqui murder?
We have been conducting our own investigations and media trials despite the lack of clues, motive or evidence, only going by assumptions, speculations and perceived gaps in information. Why did Ibrahim have to take his father to the hospital in an auto? Where did all the cars and drivers go? Why would a thief break into a well-guarded star home?
“It doesn’t add up. Some pieces of the puzzle are missing,” even I couldn’t resist chiming in on a Whatsapp group, channelling my inner Nancy Drew and Miss Marple, though I’d be too old and too young to be either.
No wonder, true crime series and reality shows are thriving on OTT platforms. But when the real world can get so wonderfully lurid, what competition can plain vanilla fiction offer? Now waiting for the next episode in the ongoing saga.
Namrata Joshi
Consulting Editor
Follow her on X @Namrata_Joshi