Here's why Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan or Aamir Khan can never pull off a Meryl Streep at Bollywood award functions

Meryl Streep just won many hearts with her brilliant heartfelt speech at the Golden Globes Awards 2017.

By Sreeju Sudhakaran
Published: January 9, 2017 3:05 PM IST

Meryl Streep just won many hearts with her brilliant heartfelt speech at the Golden Globes Awards 2017. The social media has been going crazy over the speech, with the #MerylStreep hashtag trending like for hours. Everyone's raving about it. Everyone's saying that it is the best speech they have heard in months. In fact, if Meryl Streep ever stands for any elections in US, I am sure she's gonna win it easily with her fantastic oratory skills. And here in India, we have people saying that none of our actors have guts to go the Meryl Streep way. I partly agree with that statement there. None of our stars will go the Meryl Streep Way, and for their own welfare, they should never ever attempt to do a Meryl Streep at any award functions. Also Read - Heeramandi Screening: Will Sanjay Leela Bhansali announce Inshallah with Salman Khan soon?

Before I give my reasons why Meryl Streep giving a speech at Golden Globe Awards can never be replicated at, say, a Filmfare or Zee Cine Awards, let's talk about the speech first if you have the misfortune of missing it out. When she won the Cecil B DeMille award for outstanding contribution to entertainment at the function, in her acceptance speech, she spoke of how something that happened earlier last year, hurt her a lot and it was the biggest thing to happen last year. She was referring to Donald Trump winning the US Presidential elections, without even taking his name. She continued to diss the new President Elect, about how he found it prudent to insult a disabled journalist in a public platform, and yet he has chosen to wield the highest power of the country. Also Read - Heeramandi web series first review: 'What a world, what a journey' writes THIS star about Sanjay Leela Bhansali's show

Here, you can watch the whole video of her speech... Also Read - Bigg Boss OTT 3: Shivangi Joshi's Barsatein costar to be a part of Salman Khan's show?

Still processing #MerylStreep at the #GoldenGlobes, a truth-teller, brave soul & this is how an artist uses empathy. pic.twitter.com/aiaIvSYOVy

— Gilluis Pérez (@Gilluis) January 9, 2017

Naturally, there have been discussions on Twitter as to how our own celebs don't have the guts to do a Meryl Streep here. Many of our own Bollywood celebs have been retweeting the speech with captions like 'Respect', ' Best Speech Ever' and all that. Even the commoners like us are taking on Bollywood people for not being Meryl Streep.

Meryl Streep needs to teach Bollywood how to write a speech, grow a spine, and you know, generally accept awards.

— Ankur Pathak (@aktalkies) January 9, 2017

Knee deep bow to Meryl Streep for the courage to openly slam Trump at #GoldenGlobe . . Only if Bollywood could muster courage & take a cue !

— Being Rashmee (@Rush_Me_Tweets) January 9, 2017

Will some Bollywood celebrity stalwarts kindly express their sincere protest on #Chattisgarh molestation/ rape-victims,please? #MerylStreep

— Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) January 9, 2017

But listen to what Anurag Kashyap had to say on this...

We in our film industry don't even need to give a speech like Meryl Streep if we just start standing up with those who actually speak up.

— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) January 9, 2017

What Kashyap is trying to hint here is that, when we do have celebs talking about issues on such platforms, they just get to be alienated by their own fraternity who just can't take the guts to stand with the man. But I won't blame the celebs this time. I won't blame them for turning award functions into gush sessions, where they keep throwing fake praises at each other. Because no one expects our celebs to talk about political issues on a filmy platform, right?

I mean who are they? They are just performers who run around trees, dance in the rain and kick 50 goons all at once. How can they even understand politics more than we do? They are supposed to be the privileged ones who live in glass towers with no sense of what's happening around them, and being a celeb, they don't have the constitutional right for the freedom of expression to talk about politics. Right? Like why should they even talk about something they have no clue of? #Sarcasm

Even Meryl Streep was trolled by Trump followers for talking about politics on a movie-based platform. Whatever abuses Meryl got for her speech was on Twitter (where I don't think she even has an account). There is no Trump follower doing a dharna outside her house right now. There is no political party clamouring to ban her movies at this moment, so that she can hold a secret meeting with a Raj Thackeray... oops, I mean Trump for the proper release of her movie.

She is safe there. Our Bollywood celebs aren't.

Not because they can not speak like Meryl Streep, it's because this is India, not US of A.

Shah Rukh Khan had made a joke about politician Amar Singh during an award function a few years ago, and the next day, Amar Singh's party members held protests outside Mannat. And that was all about one little joke. Remember the time when Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan spoke about religious intolerance, and were soon branded traitors by our political parties and asked to go to Pakistan. Shah Rukh Khan's Dilwale had got a fractured release as a result, with several lowkey parties showing their might to stop theatres from screening the movie. And we accused Shah Rukh Khan of being a coward for having a discussion with MNS honcho for the proper release of his upcoming Raees. Well, did he have an option in this country where even if your party is not in power, you can still stall the release of a multi-crore project, because, well, you can.

And I haven't forgotten how Aamir Khan's Fanaa never found a release in Gujarat just because he sided with the Narmada Bachao project. And you still feel they should all emulate Meryl Streep. Unless, our society is not mature enough to allow them to, all we are getting stuck with is boring acceptance speeches where stars thank everyone from their watchman to to the director for making them deserve the award.

And I am not the only one in thinking so...

LOLing hard at all the Bollywood people who will say WHOA RESPECT MERYL STREEP, but won't speak up against Raj Thackeray here.

— Rohan (@mojorojo) January 9, 2017

This whole discussion of "who in Bollywood would stand up" is the difference between Self Preservation and Self Respect.

— Pratyush Prasanna (@pratyushp) January 9, 2017

Unlike in India, Hollywood has no fear of goondas hurting you, ransacking your place & damaging public property & BMC filing cases on you. https://t.co/GXzyncBqho

— randomthoughts (@gauravlavania) January 9, 2017

Our stars are normal human beings like any of us. They have their own insecurities, they have their families to take care of, and they have crores of money riding on them. They just can't have people stopping their movies from being released just because one political party has issues with what they have to say in all their honesty.

So Bollywood, no matter how much pressure is upon you, please do NOT emulate Meryl Streep. Unless you wanted to be labelled a terrorist and a traitor.

Freedom of speech, you say? Screw that, I value mine, and my family's life more.

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BySreeju Sudhakaran
Published: January 9, 2017 3:05 PM IST