The frenzy that is Khan

It is a wonder how one man and his one film can occupy so much airtime

It was such a huge gimmick that it took a bomb blast and the gruesome end of innocent lives to take the attention away. Till Pune's German Bakery shattered almost to smithereens and the media got a fresh excitement, the news channels were having a fairly easy time. There was only one story that they had to really report on for nearly 36 hours (or was it more?). One movie, one controversy, one man, one name. I think by now, I know the statistics by heart -- how many screens in how many halls are showing 'My Name Is Khan', how many people have queued up for it, how many policemen are standing in exactly what positions to protect the King of India, the Khan of all Khans.
SRK, I am sure is thanking the Sena, secretly or away from the media glare. His friend Mr Karan Johar is thanking his stars. Both Mr Khan and Mr Johar are thanking their fans profusely. And I know that last bit because this piece of information kept flashing under the 'Breaking News' ticker of our esteemed channels. I understand the television media's predicament. The need to churn out content 24/7 puts pressures on any producer. So, if one man gives the viewers enough cud to chew on for a day and a half, they undoubtedly owe him a big chunk of their news space. SRK was making news on one side. But news channels were 'making' more, sensationalising, adding a little spice to the story their rivals reported a few seconds ago and dishing it out to the innocent public.
I was laughing when I sat and watched one regional news channel from Kolkata. The news reporter held a grave expression and was shouting in all urgency (have you ever wondered how they mostly shout and never talk?). Looking at the way he sweated and made an earnest effort to report the news from the 'on-field location', it seemed like he was comparing himself to a war reporter.
He asked his camera person to zoom in on the police deployed, the barricades and talked of the undercurrent of tension. The lane they were showing looked quiet enough for ten in the morning. For a moment I was taken in by the whole drama. A riot broke out there or what? "Here I am, standing in front of XYZ movie hall, where My Name is Khan is being screened..." I just had to switch off.
They were making SRK, a millionnaire or, I don't know, perhaps a billionnaire, the biggest martyr of all for one protest that one Shiv Sena made! A controversy bloated out of proportion has given this man millions worth of free publicity. Perhaps the tickets would not even have sold so much without that. And him a martyr? Give me a break!
There are few businessmen as shrewd as this man is. Fewer still who have such a keen sense on how to sell himself to all the bidders at such mighty high prices. Don't get me wrong, and SRK fans, don't get offended (if you slander me, I won't have a media backing) because I respect the man for that. I think we have a lot to learn from him. After all, who can even dream of having thousands bathing his or her photo with milk and risking their very lives to queue up for hours and buy tickets for his or her film?