Sponsored rivalry

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya might be bored of acquiring breweries; he has started brewing trouble in a hallowed institution--the Indian cricket team. Skipper M.S. Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh are in a 'spirited' rivalry, thanks to Mallya's brand tactic.
A recent advertisement of McDowell's No. 1 Platinum, owned by Mallya's UB Group and endorsed by Dhoni, has ambushed the rival Royal Stag commercial featuring the Turbanator.
Royal Stag had Harbhajan talking about how he had the choice of inheriting his father's steel ball factory, but, instead, pursued his cricket dreams and “made it large”. The McDowell's ad has a Bhajji look-alike sitting on a huge steel ball and wondering whether he had indeed made it large for his pappaji. As pappaji comes and thrashes his dimwit puttar, Dhoni switches off a TV showing the pair, and says, “If you want to succeed in life, forget large. Do something different.”
Harbhajan's mother, Avtar Kaur, is not amused. Her lawyers have sent a notice to UB Group, saying the “anti-national” commercial ridicules her son, her family and the Sikh community. She is seeking public apology and a compensation of Rs 1 lakh.
Mallya says has no intention of withdrawing the ad. He maintains that it was a “spoof between two brands” and not meant as a personal attack. Show some sportsman spirit, he seems to be saying.


This piece appeared in the Jukebox section of THE WEEK

Red carpet for reunion

Did CPI(M) polit bureau member Sitaram Yechury take a leaf out of what two struggling stars in Bollywood are planning? News is that Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham are planning to take their Dostana friendship a step further by teaming up for a series of films. Cynics jeer that it is the long line of flops that made the actors so desperate.
Yechury should know about desperation. The Left flopped in the recent Assembly polls in West Bengal and Kerala. Robbed of strongholds, it is no longer a major force in national politics. No wonder he aired what is being touted as the panacea—merger of the two parties, nearly 50 years after the split.
The CPI comrades have been, for some years, not-so-secretly expressing the wish. CPI national secretary D. Raja said his party was always open to merger. Pronto, is what other leaders are also saying. The hitch is that CPI(M) leaders in Kerala are not so excited. V.S. Achuthanandan, the only surviving face of the 32 national council members who walked out of the CPI in 1964, is keeping mum.
The hope is for a united communist movement which would be able to fight for people’s causes better, and give Baba Ramdev a run for his money. But the script to reinvigorate the Left needs better luck than the Bachchan-Abraham duo—they are yet to find producers willing to risk their money on them.



This item, written by me, appeared the Jukebox section of THE WEEK dated June 26. There was no byline, btw. And this is a reluctant attempt to breathe life to this dying blog of mine. So, thanks for reading.