Afternoon news
- It may not be unusual to launch a film in an unusual, catch and jammy style...
Mumbai, Jun 7: Respect for the uniform is one of the vital lessons taught to men and women in uniform, especially in the Law and Order domain. But what happens when civilians or organisers show scant respect for and tarnish the image of traffic police by sporting similar-looking uniforms and yet funnily different.
Just what happened at the premier of the film 'Ghoom' at the Inox Multiplex where young, sexy-looking girls in traffic police uniform strutted about in the foyer. Nothing wrong with that per se, but the girls were skimpily clad in fitting white shirts and next-to-nothing shorts exuding oodles of sex appeal.
It may not be unusual to launch a film in an unusual, catch and jammy style. It may be recalled that at the launch of the flick 'Shadi No 1' artistes wore wedding suits and were astride horses. Roads in Lokhandwala were jammed to watch the star-studded spectacle.
However, at Inox, the objectionable part at the launch was that the girls posed for the cameras, as if doing a great job by sporting such obscene clothes while press cameramen, both electronic and press, took potshots at various angles appeasing the girls. In an atmosphere so charged and loaded with excitement, the media hardly posed any negative questions.
The occasion was the premier of a film which is being produced by MTV and in keeping with that, a bit of comedy could well have been expected. But showing the city's traffic police in poor light was akin to a crime that should have been avoided.
So, did the traffic police not take objection to this? When contacted, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Satish Mathur, already harassed by Mumbai's rain and roads, declined comment. We don't blame him, actually, because it's not the traffic chief's job to field such faltoo questions.
But motorists at Inox on Thursday last week were clearly hoping to get hauled up by the glam traffic cops for No Parking!