Did Anna Hazare's fast turn into a show?

The movement and its anti-corruption slogan caught the fancy of the public but like most of the public events, it had its share of publicity seekers. It was also one of the rare events when Bollywood celebs jumped over each other to pledge their support to the 73-year-old activist and his five-day fast.

Aamir Khan wrote a letter to the Prime Minister. Anupam Kher, Pritish Nandy and Tom Alter not only tweeted but also visited the protest site in Delhi. Director Farah Khan, who was in the city for a reality show, visited Hazare so did Madhur Bhandarkar, whose visit was informed to the media organisations in advance.

Rest of B-town expressed their solidarity with Hazare on twitter. Celebs like Hritik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Kher, Bhatt, Juhi Chawla, Neetu Chandra, Shekhar Kapur, Rahul Bose, Manoj Bajpai and many other posted messages through twitter, blogs and press releases. But was the outpouring of celebrity support genuine or mere lip-service from Bollywood?

Actor Anupam Kher feels that the movement should not be viewed cynically.

"A long time back I stopped bothering about people's reaction. I do what I think is right for the country and the future generation. As regard to getting publicity out of it, I think every actor should have been there, they could also have got some publicity," Kher said.
Kher is also happy with the way media took up the issue.

"Media did a great job and I think we should not be cynical about people's intentions. It is very sad that when people do something good and we try to make them feel defensive about it," he added.

But many within the industry were left wondering about the intention of some of the celebrities and their sympathy. Some also questioned media's role in extracting comments from film stars for sound bites.

Mega star Amitabh Bachchan was forced to react after a blogger questioned him for not taking a stand on the issue. An irked Big B wondered about media's role in the entire episode, before saying, "I do not have to preach and shout out my allegiance towards my country from every roof top every day."