Open letters: Publicity stunt or genuine concern?

In an age of digital communication, looks like everyone has an opinion or two (or many) to share and to that, now we have celebrity open letters. More recently, letters penned by Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar and Mary Kom have given twitteratis and social media residents a field’s day. From addressing the sensitive issue of molestation and rape to being preachy about the world and its woes, the letters hogged the virtual space. And the timing was coincidentally right.

A few days prior to the release of his movie Pink, Amitabh Bachchan penned an open letter to his granddaughters encouraging them to stand on their own feet and not to let society dictate their actions. While a faction of the readers praised the actor for writing the letter, a section also called it a publicity stunt.

While Farhan’s letter speaks of his helplessness as a father to a daughter who lives in a society full of sexual violence, Mary’s is a personal take on how she herself was molested as she urges her sons to grow up to respect women. Celebrity hairstylist Sapna Bhavnani thought Amitabh Bachchan’s letter was very sexist. “He talks about the legacy of his great grandfather, but does not care to speak of the great grandmother! The letter was unknowingly steeped in patriarchy besides being a publicity stunt. I am tired of men telling women how to feel or dress or behave or be patronising about rape. I respect Mary Kom for her letter which is impactful. It is motivational to hear people who have experienced their story and have decided to share it,” she says.

While author at the feminist blog Ladies Finger, Nisha Susan praises the idea of the open letters as a form of starting a dialogue in society, she too agrees that the content in Big B and Farhan’s letters came across as preachy. “I don’t think that there is anything special or personal in the letters that Amitabh Bachchan or Farhan Akhtar wrote. They sounded like general speeches, preachy and impersonal. If they had spoken of inequality in their field and of making it more equitable for women, I would have found it more interesting. After all, who’s going to go and check if Amitabh Bachchan is being nice to his granddaughter or Farhan Akhtar is giving his daughter  freedom?” she says.

Actor and theatre person, Kalki Koechlin, on the other hand wholly praises the attempt. For her Farhan’s letter was as personal as it gets, since the fear of a father for his daughter’s safety is very real. “Farhan, as a father, feels helpless when his daughter is unsafe. If he’s made use of his Bollywood fame to do it, it’s fine because he’s talking about something that needs to be talked about,” she says.

Actress and director of the iconic play Vagina Monologues, Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal also agrees that the letters are an excellent way to take the conversation forward. “We should all speak up, whether that is about something like rape or homosexuality. Silence is equal to death. When a celebrity is writing an open letter, it brings attention to the issue,” she says.