We know who Hero Alom is and without doubt his videos provide comedic relief to millions. In fact, the comments below Hero Alom's video posts can work far better than any anti-depressant. Don't get me wrong here, I am not slating the Hero; his campy style of videos and antics have one motive: entertainment!
If laughter is the best medicine, his videos provide that in ample amount�.
Alom came under the spotlight recently after reportedly being summoned and warned by the police about his distorted rendition of songs by Tagore and Nazrul Islam.
This triggered a social media outrage on the grounds that a person has the right to sing whatever he wants, however he wants to and the law enforcers are not the arbiters of arts and culture.
There is logic in that argument. It would have made sense if the relevant ministry had called Alom to point out that his versions of Tagore and Nazrul songs weremangled and should be stopped.
Interestingly, one renowned Tagore exponent said that such renditions without following the actual rhythm and melody have the potential to undermine the songs of the great masters thus popularising flawed versions.
Really?
Whatever Hero Alom does is taken very lightly by most and, to be honest, treated just as material for light hearted fun.
Take it as a spoof and nothing more. If memory serves correctly, it was once common to featurewell known traditional songs with their lyrics changed at TV magazine shows.
Shedindujonedulechino bone being the most parodied!
No one protested then although it needs to be admitted that these pastiche songs were sung in the right tune, hardly deviating from the actual melody.
What Alom is doing wrong: Hero Alom has every right to pursueculture just like any other person has the right to sing in the bathroom. However, to enter the public domain, any product has to have a certain standard. If Alom's main aim is comedy then his video uploads must mention that the specific item is to give some laughs and help us forget the drudgery of life.
Alom has a video where he sings the song from the film Titanic. In serious assessment, it's a complete disaster! However, if you look at it as a comedy, then certainly the video has some value. It's instant relief from melancholia!
The truth is, watching the full video will take some courage!
If Alom uploads his products as comedy, he will possibly get away with whatever he does. However, it's quite apparent from all his works that he is dead serious.
Now whether that is pretense, I cannot say. If it is, then he is doing a hell of a job of it. And if it's not, Alom should be told bluntly why he has millions of followers.
The image of a hero: We have been programmed from an early age that a hero is a person who is physically appealing or at least has a very elegant and civil demeanour. Templates of both the action or the intellectual hero fall under two distinctly set templates. In both cases, the person has to be physically appealing.
HeroAlom will not fall into that definition, whether we accept it or not. But, what he lacks in appearance he makes up with remarkable chutzpah.
It's the audacity to do heroic acts that strike us. Let's use businessman cum actor Ananta Jalil as an example. In his early days as an actor, he was neither physically attractive nor comfortable in front of the camera. In the last ten years, AJ has improved a lot. No, he will never be a top actor but regular sessions at the gym, change of hairstyle have made him better.
Alom comes from a modest background and his videos are perhaps his main source of income. But he has made very little effort to upgrade himself. If he had done so then he possibly would not have had an encounter with the police.
Com to think of it, as days have passed, his videos and social media engagements have become more ridiculous in nature.
Many of his earlier videos, with millions of likes, show him dancing to famous film songs. His dance moves may not have been the best but the woman pairing with him made up for his lack of skills.
There was comedy, fun but with the songs intact.
My belief is that Alom realises that the more absurd he becomes, the greater the internet following. With this realisation, he probably dropped the main songs and took up the microphone himself.
I am sure he knows what he is doing - making a fool of himself with a deadpan expression, thus adding another dimension to comedy acts.
The king of the bizarre: Even if something is preposterous, being the best in it has its rewards. Did we ever ask ourselves how many will follow Alom, If he fixes his clothes, language and then gives us sober songs?
As a proponent of freedom of expression I, like most people, do not endorse the admonition done by the law enforcers but in the end, the winner is no one but Alom.
He now has millions taking his side from all spheres of society, international media has covered the incident with BBC news report unabashedly referring to him as The Hero.
Come to think of it, not a single Bangladeshi actor ever got mentioned in the news headlines of BBC whereas Alom got more than a two minutereport with his flamboyant image plastered on the screen behind the news presenter.
All the movers and shakers of filmdom must be envious.
Alomantics, even if it's bizarre to the highest degree, has only added to his magnetism.
I would like to think, it's all part of an elaborate strategy�.and so far, he has managed to hog the headlines in and outside the country. And that too, without a PR firm.
For that outstanding achievement, he deserves to be called a hero, in my opinion, 'Super Hero Alom' - the ultimate publicity guru!
Pradosh Mitra is social observer!
