Why is Rampal the Grand Marshal?
By Sujeet Rajan
Follow @ambazaarmag
NEW YORK: The good news: the most exciting batsman India has ever produced and the living legend Virender Sehwag is going to be there at this year’s India Day parade in New York City, to be celebrated on Sunday, August 16th.
The bad news: Sehwag has been given the status of a ‘Celebrity Guest’.
Leading the parade as the ‘Grand Marshal’ at the biggest such parade outside of India (in terms of people who attend the annual event) would be the little known and mostly supporting actor Arjun Rampal, whose acting prowess can best be termed as middling to mediocre, in Bollywood.
Who remembers Rampal – the good chum of hotelier Vikram Chatwal – as a hero, and who remembers him as a villain? Is Rampal either?
Another middling actress, who seems to have been totally forgotten by producers and directors and is considered an almost washout in the Bollywood industry, Parineeti Chopra, has been given the title of ‘Guest of Honor’.
What does the title mean? Your guess is as good as anybody else’s. Few people who spot Chopra in New York would take the trouble to take her autograph.
Of the three personalities, Sehwag is undoubtedly the biggest draw for the Indian and Indian American community to spot and cheer. Sehwag would also be of interest to the cricket-crazy community from the Caribbean, and for discerning tourists from around the world.
Then, why has Sehwag, an Arjuna Award winner, not been named the Grand Marshal? With the achievement of scoring more than 8,000 runs in both Test and one-day matches, and his myriad records, he made India a powerhouse in world cricket, changed batting forever globally with his flamboyant style. Perhaps the only Indian cricketer who dwarfs Sehwag today is Sachin Tendulkar. And then are some who rate Sehwag higher than even Tendulkar.
It’s a mystery only the Bollywood-obsessed organizers, the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) of the Tristate area, comprising of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, would be able to answer. One thing is for sure, their selection of a personality to be the Grand Marshal is the worst one can think of in many years, since they started the parade 34 years ago, in 1981. Perhaps the worst ever.
On a side note, the FIA is trying this year, on August 16, to break three different Guinness Book of World Records: the records of the most different flags flown at the same time, most people receiving henna tattoos, and the most confetti raining down at an event.
So, rest assured as you line up this year on Madison Avenue for the parade: it will be a fun-filled one. Perhaps the best thing to do is to just forget the title Sehwag has been given by the FIA organizers, try spot him and cheer your loudest to greet him.
(Sujeet Rajan is the Editor-in-Chief of The American Bazaar)
3 Comments
This article is very rude with the actors. If they picked Arjun and Parineeti is because they are remembered for some roles and someone wants to see them. A journalist must inform people and not spread hate.
More light for you and your next articles.
You suck! You are totally bad mouthing this parade with this article. Being an Indian I know that 1. Arjun Rampal is an Indian super model who is a known face throughout soth-asia and has being doing some films too. 2. Parineeti Chopra? Say that again? She has been working with the Biggest Production house in India. She got almost 35 debutant awards for her first film and a National Award by President of India for her second. She has made a good spot in the industry in just 3 years. Her last film was released just 5 months ago, how can anybody forget her?? She is an upcoming Bolyywood star. :) Your clear intention was to bad-mouth this Parade.
Arjun rampal is a ground breaking and national award winner… He epitomises manly avatar… And we are proud to be Indians thanks to men like Arjun rampal. More men should be like him.