Once again, Shakib Al Hasan is in the news. Two days ago, he won Bangladesh an ODI against England in Chattogram. On Thursday, the T20 team won the first match of the series under his leadership. Naturally, T20 skipper Shakib should be in the news. However, the reason why Shakib has been popping up on everyone’s social media feed since Thursday night, is yet another off the field incident.
Before going into the main discussion, I want to recall something that happened around a week ago. In a casual chat Shakib said, “I no longer get irritated by anything, nor do I get angry anymore. I take everything in my stride. I feel, what’s the point in getting angry!”
Seeing Shakib wielding his cap like a bat and belting another person in front of everyone just days after I heard him say this, I should have been surprised. Shakib claimed he doesn’t get angry about anything anymore, he doesn’t get irritated. Then what was that!
But no, I wasn’t surprised. Furthermore, I, for some reason, quite liked seeing Shakib show everyone how to discipline ‘petty thieves’ after showcasing how to singlehandedly win an ODI and instill attacking mindset in the team in T20s.
We often forget that celebrities are also people like us. We feel that they have to tolerate everything. We can call them anything we want, when meeting them we can do whatever we wish. Most people act like that with them. Some can’t stop themselves from taking selfies when they see a celebrity. They don’t stop at just pictures, as they also record video clips and host social media live sessions. Some even instruct the celebrities, saying, “Please smile, turn right, turn left,” to get their desired pose.
After defeating England in the first T20 in Chattogram on Thursday, Shakib went to a programme. I saw a video which went viral on social media, which showed that a huge crowd of fans had gathered outside when Shakib was trying to leave the programme. Shakib was going towards his car against the wave of fans. During this, an opportunistic ‘fan’ snatched Shakib’s cap from his head. Shakib may have dropped a catch in the match, but he made no mistake in seizing back his cap from that guy. And after getting his cap back, Shakib used it as his willow and started ‘batting’ on that person.
The truth is, we often forget that celebrities are also people like us. We feel that they have to tolerate everything. We can call them anything we want, when meeting them we can do whatever we wish. Most people act like that with them. Some can’t stop themselves from taking selfies when they see a celebrity. They don’t stop at just pictures, as they also record video clips and host social media live sessions. Some even instruct the celebrities, saying, “Please smile, turn right, turn left,” to get their desired pose.
No one thinks for a second that even if the celebrity takes just one picture with everyone, that person would have to take hundreds of photos in one go. I’ve noticed in some recent programmes that Shakib and other star cricketers try to maintain a smile to keep the fans happy even when they are facing annoyances and problems.
On most occasions, the celebrities are mindful about all of these things, that’s why incidents like Shakib hitting someone with a cap doesn’t happen often. On most occasions, they accept everything that happens, hence it doesn’t even make the news. Because, surrendering to unreasonable requests from fans isn’t news, but when someone gets angry over their fans after repeated instigation, that becomes news. As news, by definition, is something that’s out of the ordinary.
Barring one or two instances, the celebrities rarely speak up about this. Because if they say that they are feeling irritated, they are sure to become the topic of negative reports, face criticism and getting trolled on Facebook. So, for them it’s better to suffer in silence.
On rare occasions, their patience runs out and when that happens, incidents like Shakib hitting a person with his cap in Chattogram, Ashraful slapping a guy in Mirpur, Mushfiq losing his temper in South Africa happens. When they lose their patience and say or do something in response, only then the people learn that something had happened. Otherwise, how many of us keep note of the numerous unbearable ‘requests’ the celebrities have to keep, how many scathing comments told to their faces they have to endure!
Fame brings its own set of problems. The more famous you get, the more popular you become, the more fans you have; the more unreasonable requests you will have to fulfil. You will have to look into the camera with a smiling face for selfies. You will have to answer strange questions. If someone passes a bad comment, you have to pretend it didn’t reach your ear. All these are side effects of being a celebrity. If someone is a celebrity, that person can never show irritation and instead must accept everything.
But to what end! On most occasions, the celebrities are mindful about all of these things, that’s why incidents like Shakib hitting someone with a cap doesn’t happen often. On most occasions, they accept everything that happens, hence it doesn’t even make the news. Because, surrendering to unreasonable requests from fans isn’t news, but when someone gets angry over their fans after repeated instigation, that becomes news. As news, by definition, is something that’s out of the ordinary.
That’s why, Shakib using his cap like a bat in Chattogram has become news. The video of him hitting someone with a cap has gone viral.
Many might not like what happened in the video. Moreover, some might ask why did Shakib had to inaugurate a showroom in the night right after playing an international match? The series hasn’t ended yet! Before going, Shakib needed to inquire whether the security arrangements made there were sufficient.
He ignored all of these things and went to attend the programme. But the question still remains, can a star like Shakib hit back at a fan even after his possession was snatched. After doing something like that in the, ‘Heat of the moment,’ I don’t think Shakib slept well at night.
That’s why it’s important to understand the underlying message of the incident– celebrities are also people. When angry, they can also lose their sense of right and wrong. As we common people expect behaviour befitting a celebrity from them, our behaviour with celebrities also need to be befitting of a human being.
Tarek Mahmud, Sports editor, Prothom Alo
*This appeared in the online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ashfaq-Ul-Alam Niloy