Who will watch the watchmen?

Making sense of the good, bad and often strange trending topics online

Considering the kind of publicity Prakash Jha's film Aarakshan managed to get over the past couple of weeks, his becoming a trending topic was no surprise.
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According to journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, 'There are only two winners in this debate Jha, whose film will now 'sell' and Dalit leader Ramdas Athavale, who has struck a 'deal'.

Anil Thakraney added that Jha's next project would, in all probability, be titled 'Bheja Fry 3.'

A certain Richa Anirudh had a question for Mayawati: 'I can't understand who gives you the right to decide what I can and can't watch. You should leave the Chief Minister's post and join the Censor Board.'

There was also this from someone simply called Gaurav: 'Extra police protection for the release of Aarakshan. Funny the job goes to the 'reserved' police force.'

Freedom of speech
August 15 clogged timelines well in advance, prompting patriotism and a certain amount of cynicism. As someone with the handle Pragmatic Desi put it, 'Really scared about the Independence Day columns this weekend; can't see the same stuff being regurgitated as op-eds again.'

Pratiksha commented: 'One man's Independence Day is another man's Dry Day!' Mihir S Bijur thought the day was extra special because 'It is giving us freedom from Monday.' For Hansal Mehta, 'Independence Day and freedom are symbols of delusion.

Let's stop fooling ourselves and living this facade of being a democracy.' Finally, this tweet from Pawan: 'By Independence Day, India will be freed from its No.1 ranking in Test cricket.'

Nothing but the truth
'Famous Lies...' was a topic of discussion that yielded examples including 'I don't have time for a relationship right now', 'everyone is beautiful in their own way' and 'you can trust me.'

The last word
According to the actor Anupam Kher, 'Aarakshan is a victim of today's dirty politics. Movies don't have agendas, politicians do.'

Lindsay Pereira is Editor, MiD DAY Online