Last afternoon, Prime Video India revealed the first full-fledged trailer for its upcoming series ‘Bambai Meri Jaan’. Almost instantly, the comments section of the trailer post on Prime Video India’s social media handles was flooded with followers going ga-ga over the gritty trailer and the stellar looks of the actors in it.
For those who don’t know, Prime Video India original series Bambai Meri Jaan comes from Excel Entertainment, makers of Prime Video India’s megahits, Mirzapur and Inside Edge. The series stars actors Kay Kay Menon, Avinash Tiwary, Kritika Kamra and Amyra Dastur, among others, in pivotal roles. Bambai Meri Jaan premieres on Prime Video India on 15th September, which is next week.
While most social media users were appreciative of the Bambai Meri Jaan, and quite enthused about the upcoming series, a few voices stuck out like sore thumbs amongst the cacophony. These social media users raised the most pertinent question – by making shows such as Bambai Meri Jaan aren’t we glorifying hard-core criminals such as Dawood Ibrahim, the man responsible for the 1992 Mumbai bomb blasts that caused so much death and destruction in our beloved Mumbai.
Check out a couple of hard-hitting criticisms directed at the makers and at Prime Video India for greenlighting a show such as Bambai Meri Jaan –
Recently, several viewers pointed out the same thing for SonyLIV’s show, ‘Scam 2003’. The series recounts the story of scamster Abdul Karim Telgi, who perpetrated the massive ₹30,000 crore stamp paper scam in the nineties. A Facebook user wrote that while Scam 1992’s Harshad Mehta merely manipulated the system to get what he wanted, Abdul Telgi was a counterfeiter and a legit criminal. Why glorify a hard-core criminal by turning his story into a charismatic, larger-than-life spectacle?
The same thing stands true for Bambai Meri Jaan. Dawood Ibrahim is one of the most deplorable and despicable criminals to come out of India. And filmmakers must simply not glorify his life through entertaining shows like the upcoming Bambai Meri Jaan.
For once, we at Binged are compelled to agree with the naysayers, miniscule though they may be.
What do you think?