Condoms and sex: Give Ranveer Singh his
due(-rex)
Ranveer Singh's "Rex Talk" might just become the
condom revolution that the country so needs.
When was the last time a commercially well-to-do Bollywood actor
spoke at length about sex? You don't remember? Well, neither do I. Unless you
include promotional events for films which are tagged an "A", and
even in that case, most actors would talk about everything from how to do a sex
scene in Bollywood films to AIDS, but carefully dodge that devilish
three-lettered S-word.
So, when some months back this Ranveer Singh went ahead and
began endorsing a brand of condoms, a lot of sniggers and smirks spilled forth
from the prudes. A mainstream actor doing a furious kissing scene in a
commercial film is something, and talking about condoms and sex this openly is
something else altogether. Sure, we have seen Sunny Leone strutting around
kissing strawberries in that Mankind ad, but then, she's Sunny Leone. A porn
star. And being a part of a condom ad must have been the most natural thing to
do for a porn star, or so ran the commentary in the logical Indian's mind.
When Ranveer Singh began talking openly about sex and the other
sexual, under-taboo stuff, one thought it was a wave that accompanied his Durex
campaign; and like all other waves, would pass over. Hell, no. Imagine the
shock the common Indian prude had to face when Singh discussed his sex life -
in the open - with the media. And not as part of his condom endorsement. He
laid bare the first time he bit into the Forbidden Apple; went on to talk about
how he could not do without sex; and how his classmates' parents considered him
the "keeda" who would spoil their kids, back during his school days.
And the horrifying, making-one-agape confessions didn't end there. He chose to
actually address the youth and talk about sex in a way most other B-Town
inhabitants would have considered surprising, if not downright shocking.
On World Aids Day, the actor appeared on numerous TV and
computer screens, asking people to talk about sex. Adding that sentence,
"No glove, no love," to his speech of sorts. He went around giving
interviews about how sex is a beautiful thing and why youngsters should not shy
away from talking about it. He encouraged people to break the taboos and have
lots of sex - with a condom. It sure is a promotional stint when such talks
come wrapped in a rubber sheath campaign. But then, how many of our
contemporary actors have done even that?
Only last week, I was talking to someone who was describing her
experience of post marital sex with her PhD owner of a husband. This educated
way-above-average, in his 30s husband of hers refused to use a condom whenever
they had sex. Bringing up the topic meant receiving jibes from the guy;
acid-coated utterly idiotic sentences like, "I'm sure you're having an
affair and hence the insistence on using a condom". After a point of time,
she gave up trying to drill reason into the overeducated head of this doofus.
She began using diaphragms, without telling him. He found out and taunted her
for a while after that, but she made him accept the arrangement. Apparently,
sometime during their initial arguments about using a condom, this
Bollywood-worshipper husband of hers had also said (in jest, I'm hoping) that
the day his favourite stars endorsed the act of using a condom, he'd also start
using one.
This is just one instance where people in India look up to their
stars so much that even their sexual lives are governed by them. No, that
doesn't just include shagging off to photos of actresses that a lot of people
do, but otherwise, too. So, when someone who is still working his way to
achieving a solid footing in Bollywood talks so openly about these
unmentionable things, he deserves a pat on the back. And here's the disclaimer.
I personally don't much like Ranveer. Be it his brash roles on screen or his
quintessential Dilli-da-laundapan, there's something about him that puts me
off. But the guy needs to be given his due. He is doing his bit to change the
societal perception about sex, talking about sex, and condoms. That alone, more
than his roles, too, maybe, makes him worthy of respect. If he succeeds in
making a condom a necessity in the urban Indian youngster's sex life; if they
too don't step out of their homes without carrying a condom in their wallets
like him, Singh's "Rex Talk" might just become the condom revolution
that the country so needs. With or without that nauseating red rose in between
their jaws, a la Ranveer.
Pasted
from <http:hdrollingreels.blogspot.in