I watched the FOX series “24” during its first season. I stopped cold after that. EVERYONE watches that show, but I am no longer allowed to follow Jack Bauer and his exploits. You see, I began having paranoid delusions and kept trying to save the world an hour at a time. Even when I did something as ordinary as go to the grocery store, I could hear this clock ticking in my ears. I once freaked out at 6:58 p.m. when there were only two minutes left in the hour and nobody was around to bag the groceries I had just purchased. I swear the guy in front of me in the checkout line was a Muslim terrorist just trying to slow me down. I feel sorry for my friends who still watch the show (now in its third season). They are totally paranoid. If I am talking to them and its like 8:55p.m., all of a sudden they’ll ask me if my phone is tapped and will insist they have to go. ZEE TV is trying to cash in on the paranoia and anxiety with their own rip-off of 24 titled, “Time Bomb 9/11.” FOX isn’t happy. From the FinancialExpress.com:
Zee Telefilms Ltd can go ahead with the release of its Ketan Mehta-produced thriller Time Bomb 9/11 as scheduled tonight [Tuesday night] at 10 pm as the Delhi High Court on Monday adjourned the matter for Wednesday. Hollywood producer Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation had sued Zee for infringement of its copyright on its ongoing TV serial 24 starring Emmy award nominee Keifer Sutherland.
[Fox Lawyers] alleged that concept of Time Bomb 9/11 was based on TV serial 24 and explained how the act of Zee Telefilms amounted to infringement of copyright.
On the other hand, senior advocate Arun Jaitely appearing for Zee refuted the allegations, saying that Time Bomb 9/11 was its original concept and a sequel to its earlier serial Pradhan Mantri, launched in 2001. “Nobody could monopolise on the concept of terrorism,” he said. Senior advocate Gopal Subramanian will be appearing for the producer.
“Nobody could monopolise on the concept of terrorism.” Indeed, I say. Where would society be without the concept of terrorism? The show even has an actor who portrays Osama Bin Laden. Jack Bauer never had to tango with such a malevolent adversary. Mid-day.com reports:
Character actor Vallabh Vyas has been chosen to play terrorist Osama bin Laden in Ketan Mehta’s weekly thriller Time Bomb 9/11 (Zee). Vyas’s family is frightened. “Beware of Osama bin Laden! He will be after you now!” they tell the actor.
“Ever since director Ketan Mehta signed me to play Osama, the constant refrain on everyone’s lips is ‘Osama will take your case now’,” laughs the actor.
Okay, is it just me or does that picture make him look more like Moses than like Osama? I think his family should be more worried about gun-toting Charlton Heston coming after him.
Also, I want ungrateful SM readers to pay careful attention to the time stamp of this blog post. That’s right b*tches. I am trying to save the world one blog post at a time.
Uh-oh. You said Muslim Terrorist, instead of just Terrorist. Apres Moi, le deluge – of flames about your stereotyping….best of luck…
omg, 28k and the way YOU type…this is a labor of love, people. abhi, we are not worthy. seriously. 😉
The fourth season already ended, Abhi, and I’m still experiencing withdrawal. And as far as malevolent desi terrorists go, Anil Kumar (the prickish tool in “American Desi”) had a great role on 24 this last season. Our guy had a speaking part and everything!
Oh THAT’s where I’d seen Anil Kumar before!!!
The first season of 24 was as good as TV can get. Well-paced, suspenseful, with a genuinely shocking ending. The second season started out as good, but degenerated into a more typical Hollywood fare, with stockroom bad-guys. I stopped watching after that.
Since I don’t have a TV (yet another example of my un-Americaness 😉 ), I borrowed the first season of “24” from a friend. Um, I watched them until my eyes bled. (At one point, I had a RAGING headache, but I felt the need to press on.)
Did anyone else have a Team-America-like vision of the Osamafication process?
Wait.. who was Anil Kumar on 24 and who was he in American Desi???
Anil Kumar was also on Six Feet Under a couple weeks ago as George’s psychiatrist.
omg, 28k and the way YOU type…this is a labor of love, people. abhi, we are not worthy. seriously. ;)omg, 28k and the way YOU type…this is a labor of love, people. abhi, we are not worthy. seriously. 😉
Thanks EOFIA but this isn’t a labor of love persay. I’m just an ordinary guy trying to save the world, even if its over a 28k modem. 🙂
i am, in fact, slightly offended by that (in a very cliche way). When most people say those things you roll your eyes, scoff, suck it up and attempt to rectify the stereotype; when south Asians ever-so-casually cross that line it’s a lost cause, they’re only perpetuating the situation – wait until one day someone mistakes you for a muslim and thus an automatic ‘terrorist’ (gasp) – then maybe, hopefully, you’ll think twice about posting such euphemisms
Usually people tell me that I miss the point of posts, but this time Saira, you’ve missed the point of mine. It is a shame there’s no way to indicate sarcasm here…
1) The fact the poster said Muslim Terrorist is what I was trying to highlight. You would think that something so simple would have been addressed and eliminated – how hard is it to earse the word muslim from the post?
2) That being said, we ARE over-sensitive people, and the reason Abhi probably used Muslim Terrorist is because in the show 24 – the villains (i forget which seasons) actually were muslim terrorists (but there have been other ehtnicities as well, so that makes Abhi wrong again)
3) It’s surprising it took 10 posts (after mine) to actually take issue with that? South Asians, what is wrong with you?
4) The last part of my post is that whoever would pick up on the comment with write some flamebait, and the thread would continue with flame-and-flame-back. The fact that it was completely ignored is even worse (although many may argue that this just shows that most posters are above that and are much more mature…)
5)Finally, I’m sure Abhi meant his Muslim Terrorist comment also in sarcastic style – BUT – just because this is a Sepia site, and we’re all supposed to be “in the know” doesn’t we’re supposed to automatically pick up his intended sarcasm.
Simple solution – do you think you could just erase the word muslim from your post? It doesn’t take anything away from your article (or its effect). It really only helps perpetuate the stereotype, that the word terrorist must always be placed very close to the word muslim.
To clarify, my choice of the words “Muslim Terrorist” was entirely intentional. This past season on 24 a big deal was made by the producers of the show to convince the audience that they were not in fact discriminating unfairly against Muslims. The reason that many in the public were upset is because the plotline (and correct me if I am wrong because as I said I no longer watch the show) involved a family of Muslim terrorists. Fox went so far as to make public service announcements saying that Muslims were good, to cover their asses.
As always I was using satire. TTG is correct that you have to be in the know, but you have to be in the know as a 24 fan and not as a Sepia Mutiny reader. That is why nobody left comments that they were upset by what I wrote.
TTG, I cited your comment to show that I am continuing on that thread – not because I was offended by it.
Abhi – I understand why you used the term, but all Sepia Mutiny readers are not in the know about 24… so really, the thousands of people who don’t watch 24 and read that have once more heard the term used so casually that you’re only adding to file cabinet in the back of their minds that subconciously associates the words Muslim and Terrorist with eachother.
I’m not trying to pick on you, I do thoroughly enjoy reading your postings, but this irked me and I wanted to bring it up so that hopefully no one else starts to think it’s ok to say
Just wanted to say thanks for your kind words and turn you on to my latest endeavor: The Karaoke King. I play a really obnoxiously slick and cocky JEWISH Karaoke singer…The Worlds first HINJEW Karaoke king! check it out: http://www.karaokekingmovie.com
and thanks for the support!
Anil Kumar
“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars…” –Jack Kerouac