Saif Ali Khan, Indian Cinema and International Mobility
Living with Style
Well, Amir Khan in 1988 was just the coolest hero that every school child of that time could ever have imagined when they saw his first movie and therefore our social lives would get a sign of exclamation for the future and we would follow his news in Bollywood to know he also has a gym at home. Well, that is about it as we wanted to watch more of Amir Khan in Indian cinema to know what we would really know about our youth and our teen age. Then Salman Khan would definitely have his first movie and we were like telling each other that there can be two cool dudes giving us confidence that you really don't have to look like Amir Khan to then try to be cool in your life. Well Shahrukh Khan was an exceptional actor and at least I wouldn't understand him till he would make Dil Walay Dhulaniya Lay Jain Gay that I would note esspecially for his dressing and maybe it was one o the first movies filmed in Europe while for a studious student like me, it wouldn't matter much to have a love story in Europe or Pakistan. And somewhere everyone would note that a very good-looking son of some Muslim Nawab would enter into Indian Cinema and we did note he has one of the coolest hair styles representing 1990s with greater class in fashion and manners. I still remember saying to my friends that wow, there can be someone cooler than Amir Khan.
Well, this is a preamble to really talk about Saif Ali Khan in order to be only telling something about Saif Ali Khan.
I am shocked beyond imagination and saddened to watch the news that there was an attempt on his life. It is sad and it is worrisome because the attacker is some youth. What is the world transforming into? How could this ever happen?
Does it not that the young Generation would know if ever there is someone from older Indian Cinema who would be telling one of the best stories of being a young South Asian living in the Western world or may as well be the story of someone living in beautiful and Shining India of Prime Minister Modi, then everyone should know that Saif Ali Khan is the Man who started telling you that story. He is somebody who orbits around the story of Bollywood that revolves around the 3 Khans and it should be so true if you have younger brother to any of the Khans while the new generation of Indian actors and lead roles are more of sons and daughters of our generation represented best by relationship that you would have with your nieces and nephews.
Therefore, I had to write this blog post to ask you what is happening to the Bollywood family that has entirely changed South Asia. Well, I would know even few decades ago that using the word Bollywood family would entirely be such a rhetorical expression, but I am a grown-up middle-aged man and therefore I myself would be using many rhetorical expressions as I would know that this is how grown-ups would always talk to make a point as my story has now become the story of grown-up men and grown-up women. And indeed, life of grownups to praise Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi while despite having Pakistani nationality, is an outcome of my age that expects from me some sense of responsibility that then leads to expressions that may sound rhetorical but should be considered as words of respect instead of behaving cool all the time as we grown-ups would now interact with other grown-ups in the manner grown-ups would always interact while towards the youth our attitude can at best be encouraging while still being a cool parent or uncle. While to acknowledge my age, I would still learn something from Bollywood and one of their best actors.
I sincerely pray for the speedy health of Saif Ali Khan as he is yet another of my favorite heroes from Bollywood who is even a hero in real life. Indeed, the hero in 21st century can as well be an engineer building one of the most spectacular bridge or who might be a Wall Street Lawyer or an Artist and would define Urban Culture where bravery and intelligence is a story that would take few decades to unfold and Saif Ali Khan and his movies are the pioneer that would start to tell the stories of an Urban Hero, who goes to the Gym, who would be smartly dressed and have a great fashion sense while his love story would revolve around being kind to the shopkeepers, being polite to the poor, being genuine to express his fashion sense and likings and dis likings while all along he would be giving a world of comfort and economic respite to all the city dwellers so that they would join the story that shining India represents whereas an Indian would become the British Prome Minister or some Indian may as well be so cool and intelligent that he would become the CEO of Google, while a Pakistani like me would be beholden as I would know the story of Shining India, the beautiful India and the Indian Genuis through a personal note that Saif Ali Khan would send to Pakistan through his movies.
That is how my younger brother looks like and he is Saif Ali Khan.
Saif Ali Khan : “I have a much darker taste in cinema — I would like it to be disturbing.”
Well, for the youth in Pakistan who would on the one hand have the whole world in their hands as they would hold their smart phone and would be using social media and who would be watching what represents the modern world represented by Europe, Canada, USA, Australia or even China or East Asia, they should know that as a middle aged academic and having a good career in a university, I know that average IQ level has been significantly increased of Pakistani population that is most significantly be represented now by its youth.
Therefore, Pakistan should have a great future, and within a decade or so, if Pakistani youth are directed well and guided appropriately, Pakistan would as well become a middle-income country. However, the challenge is to copy the story of India shining that would really start in 1990s after World Bank Economist Manmohan Singh would become Indian Finance Minister and subsequently Prime Minister of India, while India shining is not only about the story of achieving better Economic Growth rates for decades, or it is not only about embracing globalization by liberalizing their financial and goods markets but it is the story of increase in labor mobility whereby Indians would be hired by international firms and businesses that would enable many Indians to then have jobs in Europe, USA, Canada and Australia. Yes, Globalization comprises of two main distinctions where as one is about international movement of goods and services while the second one is about international labor mobility as it is envisioned by one of the classical and one of the most influential international trade theories taught to every Economics student in undergraduate.
Well for the 1990s and the starting decade of 21st century, when I was living in Europe, India was an exception to the developing world and most of the other nations faced with restrictions to their international mobility that would represent most of the developing countries. The modern world representing the West would allow millions of Indians to have jobs in the West after they would complete their undergraduate or graduate education in India. In Pakistan the best international mobility would traditionally represent the professions related to Medicine and Engineering. However Western World would readily hire Accountants, Lawyers, Programmers, Professors, Artists and Architects from India defining the years of hyper globalization that started in 1990s.
Well, the Western World is facing a challenge where due to low fertility levels within a decade most of the citizens would represent old age and therefore Europe, Canada, Australia and the USA are more flexible in their immigration policies especially encouraging youth from developing countries to immigrate to the Western World. Well, the Western World may also need to prefer certain geographical locations where the youth would represent higher emotional and intelligent quotients.
Indeed, Pakistan is one such country where youth seem to show some level of creativity, aesthetics and that is a direct result of a society that is tolerant and open minded while welcoming stories represented especially by local art and drama where Bollywood is something that would help the youth of Pakistan to know what it feels like to live in the 21st century and a modern world. Well, I am defined by 1980s when in many blogs posts I mention that I am on outcome of the era represented by disco music while Pakistani youth are defining the 21st century and they are the representative of 21st century.
While, Pakistani youth love social media and spend most of their time surfing the internet and thereby knowing every fashion and life choices that would represent their generation, where as it would be something they would note about an American or a European youth and therefore would influence their daily life choices, Pakistan needs to be a country that should join Indian precedence whereby the government and private sector and especially the mediums of art and aesthetics hugely represented by Pakistan Media of News and Entertianment should facilitate hope among the youth while the Western and the Modern world would open the door of immigration to the Pakistani youth in a similar fashion they did to Indians since the 1990s.
Within few years, Pakistanis would as well become the story that is the story of the modern world where many of them would represent Pakistan working in one of the most innovative technology firms that may include Google, face Book, Meta, Space X, or they can be working with NASA or the US government or they can as well be hired by one of the best Universities of the world.
In reality, for most of the youth, the only path is still to make a long journey through the waters of Africa to be able to illegally immigrate to Europe, while it would often tell a story of cruelty that they would bear in the journey where they would be mistreated by the human traffickers.
As a university teacher, I would like to once again reach out to the Pakistani youth represented by the age group that is above 20 years old, to then ask them to contribute towards value addition even if one of the most vocal youths in the country would support PTI.
While the youth in Pakistan and India should follow the career of one of the greatest Bolly Wood star who is starring in Bollywood movies to tell the youth some great stories of being South Asian and living in Europe, US or Canada, as when a Pakistani or an Indian youth would find themselves in Europe, US, Canada or Australia, the closest friends would always be an Indian or a Pakistani because the story of Bollywood would make it just too apparent and that is being told by Bollywood for many decades since the 1990s and that is that South Asia should represent itself in the world not based on some religious myopia but it is the story of a unique South Asian culture defining the life styles of Pakistanis as much as it is about the lifestyles of a modern Hindu, while both India and Pakistan are just brilliant nations guided by a youth culture that would define the future of the global citizen.
Once again, my immense respect to the Pakistani and Indian Cinema and especially to Saif Ali Khan for one of the shining moments of my life that represents living more than a decade in Europe while representing South Asia. May Allah protect Saif Ali Khana and may he and his family prosper and make every global citizen proud as he is representing all of us who want to contribute positively to the world. Yes, being a Pakistani and a Muslim, I would have more space to understand BJP and thereby would be able to write something good about honorable PM Narendra Modi only because I have watched the movies of Saif Ali Khan representing one of the most romantic and best moments of shining India story, while I was living in Europe.