Star Yaar Rishtedaar….

 When in an interview with me, Nawazuddin  Siddiqui spoke  out against celebrities  posting holiday pictures  the last things  I expected was his brother to slam him  for it.The Tweet mocking  Nawaz  came as a rude shock. More so, since Nawaz is shooting a film being directed  by the brother.

What brought this on? Nawaz is clueless. Or if he knows   the reason for his outburst, then he didn’t share it  with me. When it comes to family Nawaz won’t say a word  against them even if they go to town washing dirty  linen in public.

Since the  controversial interview came out I’ve been asked how  I  managed to  get Nawaz to lash out. The  truth is when I  asked him about his colleagues  flaunting their hedonism at  a time when civilization is paralyzed  by unprecedented  recession I  added, “Nawaz  , it’s okay if  you don’t want to  talk about this. It’s up to you.”

Nawaz  chose to talk about stars shamelessly flaunting their  wealth at a  time like this.He spoke out because as a prominent member of  the  film fraternity he  felt ashamed of the excesses that stars indulged in.

And then, the Bhai jumps in. I’ve  never understood  the  sibling dynamics  in Bollywood. Somehow I’ve never  been able to  get along with the relatives   of  stars. One  major superstar ‘s good-for-nothing  brother  got a  chat show on  the internet solely on his star-bro’s name. I sent him  a text  praising the show. He  wrote  back  a nasty response saying he knows what I am all about, blah blah and absurd threats.

I could  only laugh . Sometimes these parasitical star-relatives behave more like stars than the star themselves.A veteran  actor ,a superstar in his own right, has been  a dear friend for years .He has always  treated me  with the utmost  love and affection .But his star-daughter is another  ballgame altogether. After one story that she didn’t like she sent me  a  text(which I have  saved) warning me that she  would teach me  a lesson.

“One Tweet of mine is  worth  more than everything you’ve ever written,” she  declared  imperiously.

It’s a monumental  illustration  of  arrogance  and selfdeception. I am sure when she reads this  she will know whom I talking about. She must also know  I kept quiet about it because of the  love and respect I share with her father.

A father who was , and remains, a far  bigger star than she can ever be. The problem is, star-relatives  have never  faced the struggles  of  the star. They  grab the star’s stardom and  use it to  aggrandize their own selfworth.

So take that, all you star-rishtedars. Learn to restrain  yourself. Do  not get carried away. Govinda was  almost on the road because  of his brother. I am sure Nawaz is much too clever for that.