Honey Singh’s hiatus

I have deep respect for celebs who share their health issues. Their experiences enhance awareness levels

After capturing Bollywood with a new sound and provocative lyrics, Yo Yo Honey Singh was raking in the moolah with boundless gigs, world over. Just when he was proving to be invincible despite the influx of imitators, he suddenly dropped off the radar. No one knew where and how he disappeared. Various theories began doing the rounds, and in the light of Honey’s latest confessions, it is clear that none were off the mark.

A big bravo to Honey for opening up after his recent return: he revealed his struggle with acute alcoholism and bipolar disorder that kept him away for more than a year.

Recently, Deepika Padukone spoke about her struggles with depression, which made headlines — understandably so, given that India is still fighting the stigma against mental health issues and addiction. Years back, Celina Jaitly spoke about endometriosis.

I have deep respect for celebs who share their health issues without agendas. Their experiences enhance awareness levels and make the public sensitive to those suffering from such issues, other than ensuring happier and healthier people and decreasing the number of lives lost to suicide.



Tailpieces

1) Bravo Fawad Khan! Considering that Pakistani actors are hugely inhibited about on-screen kissing and love-making in Bollywood, fearing a backlash in their home country, the national heartthrob has bravely pushed the envelope in Kapoor and Sons, which is set to release tomorrow. For those who believe that the move will impact the young Khan’s fan following, I beg to differ. If anything, I think it will earn him huge added respect!

2) Actors making flagrant (and often ignorant) political remarks, involves getting people in a tizzy, and the actor receiving a lion’s share of attention till the controversy remains alive. I’m not suggesting that Hamza Ali Abbasi is a Meera who makes largely vacuous remarks for effect but his views on the Afghan Taliban made him seem as ditzy as her. That said, he is entitled to his view as I am to mine. I disagree calling Afghan Taliban good, just because they don’t attack Pakistan and are also partly funded from Pakistan. They are guilty of mass murder and house-to-house searches. It’s like exonerating the Boko Haram from blame because they do not hurt Pakistan. Do innocent Afghani women and children not have a right to live? If you support a terrorist group because it attacks your enemy, you lose the right to get infuriated when the TTP attacks your own civilians.



3) Madonna kept her fans waiting for four hours before taking to the stage in Australia apparently drunk, dressed as a clown and weeping over the loss of son Rocco, whose picture was beamed onto the wall behind her. Pretty sure that Rocco has never been keen on her insane shenanigans and dramatics (seems she wheeled in wearing a pink wig on a toddler’s trike!) to be blasted all over, which is why he went to live with his father. It might have been more poignant proof of motherly devotion if she’d cancelled the concert and turned up in court for the boy’s custody hearing instead.

4) Mike Tyson, who converted to Islam while in jail, is backing Donald Trump even though the businessman is calling for a temporary ban on Muslims entering America. Tyson stated “I’ve been through a lot in life. And I know him. When I see him, he shakes my hand and respects my family. None of them — Barack, whoever — nobody else does that.” While Tyson is entitled to his view, we mustn’t forget that he is the same man who bit a competitor’s ear off and was charged of rape and wife-beating.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2016.

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