Baad
mein keh dena Daddy ko, Nikalo andar ke baddie ko,
Time
to chase time to flirt, Ek Bermuda ek T-shirt
Those are just some of the lines of the new
song by Baba Sehgal that he released on his YouTube channel recently. And if
you find the lyrics objectionable, wait till you watch the video of the song
titled, ‘The Party is in Goa’, which has Baba Sehgal sitting on a bathroom
stool taking people to Goa through some exceptionally poor VFX. The rapper, who
seems to be desperately trying to salvage whatever that is left of his career
as a music artiste, has come up with a new nugget which is a complete dud.
Sehgal, who rose to fame in the 90s with hit tracks such as ‘Thanda Thanda
Paani’, ‘Manjula’ and ‘Dil Dhadke’, is now perhaps struggling to understand
what his audience needs to see (or not see).
Apart from the really shoddy editing work
of the music video, what is more annoying is the way Goa is portrayed by
mainstream entertainment media. While this place that we call home is a popular
tourist destination thanks to its unending parties, there’s much more to this
place. Café tried to contact Baba Sehgal for a quote on his work, but he could
not be reached. However, he did take to Twitter to respond and tweeted,
“Opinions are opinions and I respect one and all. My new song has generated max
buzz on YouTube, such positive hate comments.”
Café spoke to a few Goan youngsters and asked them for
their views on the issue
“It is sad that Goa is almost always
portrayed in this fashion in Hindi films and music videos. This mentality has
to change. While we Goans are known to live to party (live life to the
fullest), this emotion has been loosely translated into something altogether
different. I just hope that people are sensitive to the fact that apart from
Goa being a tourist destination, it is our home too.”
Niranjan Purohit, Ponda
“The disparity between Goa and other Indian
states is the largest, as compared to that between any other two Indian states.
However, that is no reason for anyone to point fingers at our culture by
misinterpreting it. Hindi films have especially been at the forefront when it
comes to showing Goa in a bad way. It is no wonder then, that we receive rowdy
domestic tourists who come to Goa with a twisted mindset.”
Clarissa Monteiro, Margao
Box
Similar
incidents in the past:
–
Hindi film, Dum Maaro Dum,
starring Bipasha Basu was one of the films that found itself in the midst of
controversy. First, a Goan resident filed a case for showing Goa in bad light
and then, the Goa State Commission for Women filed a complaint regarding a
dialogue in the film, “Yahan sharab
sasti, ladkiyan uss se bhi sasti aur zindagi toh muft mein hi bik jaati hai,”
(Here alcohol is cheap, girls are even cheaper and life sells for free).
–
Tarun
Tejpal, who is currently facing charges of sexually assaulting his
colleague at ThinkFest – Tehelka’s flagship conference in Goa, had made an
insensitive remark at the inaugural edition of the event. Tejpal had said, “Now
you are in Goa, drink as much as you want, eat…sleep with whoever you think
of, but get ready to arrive early at the event as we have a packed house.” The
comment was met with a strong objectionable reaction from the locals and Goan
artists and politicians.
