"Aaya India"

This morning I finally watched the "Aaya India" video and I was actually moved by watching Shahrukh charge forward with the flag and found myself feeling a little bit peppy after the song finished. Somehow I am so won over by SRK's charisma-oozing shenanigans that I got a little bit excited about a sporting event - even though I don't know the first thing about cricket (except that there's a position called silly mid-on, which sounds exactly like it was made up by Monty Python) and I'm not from the country whose team is being sappily and a bit hurrah-for-the-homeland-edly advanced. I mean, he's literally flag-waving, which I hate, and I cannot imagine any Hollywood actors in any such video having any effect on me other than "urgh" and changing the channel. Usually celebrities pointing at me and trying to get me to feel or do something is annoying.

Maybe the song taps into a Lagaan-ish ability to spin India and cricket as noble and righteous. There's something appealing about the participatory scenes, where the fans' actions and thoughts are depicted having a clear and direct effect on the spirit of the team. The misty-eyed expressions of Priyanka and Kareena, though, ticked me off - can't women ever get anything interesting to do in any script these days?

All I can say is, if Shahrukh came running down my street with a big flag, I would follow.

Aside to Miss Bolly: your FPMBF is in it too. With hair.