Thank you dear subscribers, we are overwhelmed with your response.
Your Turn is a unique section from ThePrint featuring points of view from its subscribers. If you are a subscriber, have a point of view, please send it to us. If not, do subscribe here: https://theprint.in/
Spock pretends to betray the Federation and seduce a Romulan commander, all as part of a covert intelligence operation. His actions manipulate perceptions and public identity for strategic ends—mirroring how public figures reshape narratives around their past.
India has long used storytelling—from epics to reality TV—to whitewash sins and reinvent legacies. The legend of Ratnakar, a bandit who became Sage Valmiki and authored the Ramayana, exemplifies this. A killer turned saint and moral authority by rewriting his story. Some scholars argue he borrowed from Egyptian and Mitanni myths, using narrative as alibi. This may not be redemption—it may be India’s first media rebrand. Today’s celebrity redemptions echo this pattern, from courtroom dramas to curated TV appearances. Whether myth or manipulation, India’s cultural DNA seems wired for reinvention through narrative—not just truth, but optics-driven redemption.
Fast-Forward: FIRs, Fame, and the Facade of Reform
Today, the tools have changed—from quills to cameras—but the method remains curiously familiar.
Take Bigg Boss, India’s most-watched reality television show. Hosted by a Bollywood superstar with serious allegations and public controversies, the show has offered a prime-time platform to those seeking image makeovers. Contestants with criminal charges, history of abuse, or political baggage enter as “contestants” and leave as “celebrities.” They are coached in confessionals, wrapped in emotional redemption arcs, and strategically edited to become marketable commodities.
Or consider The Rise and Fall, Banijay Asia’s latest production. Ironically titled, the show is hosted by Ashneer Grover, a man battling FIRs and multiple allegations of financial misconduct. What better way to narrate your own rise—after a public fall—than to be the narrator of a reality series on that very theme?
We’re not talking about justice here. We’re talking about optics. Public perception has become the new court of appeal. Once shunned, now streamed. Once accused, now anchored.
Is Media India’s New Ashram?
India has no shortage of redemption narratives. Politicians visit temples after elections, celebrities adopt veganism after rehab, and tycoons donate to charitable causes after enforcement notices. But the media—especially reality TV and streaming content—has become a new kind of ashram, where the sinner can become saint through scripting, framing, and spectacle.
Unlike the rigorous self-inquiry of ancient penance, today’s redemption is outsourced to PR firms and production houses. The goal is no longer truth, but transformation. Not justice, but jubilation. Not atonement, but attention.
The public—once the last line of moral judgment—has become complicit, binge-watching as flawed figures are packaged as relatable underdogs.
Why Does This Work So Well in India?
Because perhaps, at some unconscious level, we expect it. Valmiki did it. So did Angulimaal, the killer who became a disciple of the Buddha. So did Ashoka the Great, who after the Kalinga massacre, became the patron of Buddhism and peace.
India does not fear sinners. It fears those who refuse to be scripted into morality tales. Redemption here is less about accountability and more about dramatic narrative composition and control. If you play the part, the audience will forgive. In this framework, an FIR is just Act I, TRPs are Act II.
This isn’t unique to India, but the frequency and cultural acceptance here deserve scrutiny. Western media has cancel culture. India has Sanskaar Syndication as a rite of passage. When controversy erupts, the logical next step is not inquiry or justice—but a guest appearance, the powerful anchor/host role on TV in a top show, or a staged confession on a fake courtroom trial on India TV with Rajat Sharma (no relation).
Final Thought: From Valmiki to Viral Fame
India’s mythologies have always been more than stories—they’re frameworks of redemption. But when every robber can rebrand as a rishi and every accused can anchor a show, we must reflect on what values we are reinforcing.
Are we a civilization of second chances? Or a society addicted to makeovers without introspection?
Redemption is a beautiful concept. But only when it is earned—not edited.
Akshay Sharma is a former Gartner analyst and contributor to both the SWIFT protocol for International Banking and ARINC 629 Databus used in Boeing and Airbus aircraft, for fly-by-wire. He served as CTO for firms supporting the World Bank, India’s DRDO, and Air Force. Now Chief Technology Evangelist for an AI/ML company, he is a board member of Somy Ali’s nonprofit No More Tears, and has over 30 published essays in ThePrint.IN. He draws inspiration from Swami Vivekananda’s teachings, and is a descendent of Maharishi Bhardwaj, inventor of the Vimanas.
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.