Will Salman still be my Hero?

A walk down the memory lane to the time when fancy words like "actor" were not a part of my dictionary. When, fascination for Hindi films was blooming in the life of a four year old and in total awe of the word “hero” the little one failed to distinguish the line between reality and fiction.

Then the customary "growing-up" happened where the realization that "actors" and "actresses" (After a prolonged usage of this term courtesy our Indian Angrezi Standards, I switched to a more refined term "female actor") play "characters" in films which don't happen for real but are mere stories was more baffling than appalling.

How heartbreaking it was to learn that the constant confusion over the space crunch arising from "too many people" actually residing inside the TV Box was pointless and that there was an outside world  “The world of Bollywood”.

(Back then who knew that Media and Entertainment Law would adore the “area of interest” column in my curriculum vitae)

Days, Months, Years rolled, as I desperately kept trying to accommodate those occasional outbreaks of heart-wrenching realities. But the word "hero" never left my mind.

No matter how many more follow, the first favorite is always special.

That one person who defined the word "hero" for a 5 year old, a decade and half down the line the definition remains pretty much un-altered. And that “one” was just ONE! The Khan of All seasons, Sallu Bhaijaan!

Yes, there were many along the way, A Shahrukh, posing as a Raj or Rahul explicating the "ideal lover boy" something, which will very much be a life-time fantasy! And then there were the Hritik Roshans and The Arjun Rampals with that alluring charm and those looks to die for.

And yes, drooling over the more recent phenomenas like Ranveer or Arjun was more of a quotidian chore.

Nothing could drift by the slightest bit the immense love that was probably meant to be! 

That irresistible urge to break into a jig the moment a Salman Khan Song aired on TV. Those desperate attempts to mimic his dialogues or duplicate his dance steps. That “yayyy” which gradually transformed to “awww” when he would take off his Shirt.

Conveniently trashing those critics who dared to trash his movies and watching his movies a countless times and even tolerating the intolerable Big Boss.

It was never a task to believe that he could jump off a hundred-story building and still get up on his feet and then take on a hundred stronger looking men and break their heads. Those heart-breaks when he did not get his "heroine" in the end.

There was this one man who effortlessly charm me over and over and take my love for him, notches higher with every new movie.

And suddenly people are accusing my hero is a drunk-driver, a murderer who ran over poor innocent souls who were sleeping on a footpath blissfully unaware of the impending disaster.  The constant criticism of the fact that even after this" heinous offense" he has been left scot-free.

As much as I hate to accept this, the truth is out in Black and White! Yet, Amidst all the flak and anguish that this judgment has attracted, I choose to exercise MY freedom of speech and not give an opinion on this.

But for a moment I would want to keep my rationality aside, and think over.

Will it really taint the picture of the "hero" that I had in mind all along?

Will I think twice before watching his movie even though critics have panned it?

Will Salman Khan, still be my Hero?

Well! The answer to this lies pretty much in the fact that I am very much looking forward to the weekend episode of Big Boss with un-altered enthusiasm.