{"id":5750,"date":"2016-07-15T22:41:26","date_gmt":"2016-07-15T17:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5750"},"modified":"2016-07-15T22:41:26","modified_gmt":"2016-07-15T17:11:26","slug":"why-imtiaz-alis-rockstar-made-me-stop-glorifying-the-tortured-artist-trope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=5750","title":{"rendered":"Why Imtiaz Ali\u2019s Rockstar Made Me Stop Glorifying the \u201cTortured Artist\u201d Trope"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<span class=\"dropcap\">&#8220;I<\/span>f you\u2019re going to try, go all the way,\u201d poet and author Charles Bukowski famously said. \u201cOtherwise, don\u2019t even start. This could mean losing <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/love-and-sex\/dating-in-your-30s-ex-girlfriends\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">girlfriends<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery \u2013 isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it.\u201d\u00a0\n\n\u201cThat is ridiculous,\u201d a friend and fellow artist took strong exception when someone quoted these lines. \u201cIs losing <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/love-and-sex\/relationships-dating-advice-love-romance\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">relationships<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> really essential,\u201d she wondered, \u201cIs our mental health of no importance? Why can\u2019t writers and artists have a healthy and functional life <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">also create good art?\u201d\n\nWhy indeed?\n\nThe trouble is that the perception of a tortured artist is so glorified that it has now become perversely aspirational. There is something highly alluring about the idea of deep sorrow and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/love-and-sex\/marriage-depression-therapy-relationships\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">depression<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> acting as a springboard for great pieces of art. The artists know it, and so does the market. From Van Gogh\u2019s \u201cStarry Nights\u201d to Sylvia Plath\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bell Jar<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, there is an endless list of artistic masterpieces that are literally and metaphorically soaked in blood and tears, where the greatness (and the market worth) of the art was morbidly, but effectively enhanced by the miseries of their creators.\n\nA literary group on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/JbI4lh3uJuo\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WhatsApp<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that I am part of, was recently\u00a0agog with discussion on the importance of mental health among artists \u2013 poets, writers, and musicians. In the wake of an unfortunate incident within the community, when a beloved veteran poet from our city <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/social-commentary\/lucknow-muslim-city-diversity\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lucknow<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> lost his life after a year-long struggle with depression-related illnesses, several others came forward with their personal battles. There was a collective anguish over the glorification of depression and substance abuse among artists, ostensibly as a state of mind that is conducive and perhaps essential to the creation of great art. A group member, who is a poet and a writer quoted the examples of poets like Majaz Lakhnawi, who battled with alcoholism and several <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/health\/depression-middle-class-diagnosis\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mental health<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> issues before succumbing to them prematurely, and Jaun Elia, whose temper was about as famous as his alcoholism. While their poems and couplets were legendary, their personal lives were far from ideal.\n\n<blockquote class=\"quote--center\"><p>As most creative minds in my close circle keep repeating, heartbreak is a bestseller.<\/p><\/blockquote> \n\nThe trouble, as another member, a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/people\/gulzar-birthday-poetry-song-lyricist\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">poet<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and journalist, pointed out, was that the artistic community and its audience did not see their tragic lives as a problem. As most creative minds in my close circle keep repeating, heartbreak is a bestseller. The fact that it may come at the cost of an artist\u2019s life has always been of little significance. A couple of years ago, I had the misfortune of attending a session by a casting director. He spoke with great pride about a young boy whose ego they had systematically cut to size to fit the requirements of a role. That in the process they most probably permanently damaged the guy\u2019s self-esteem and psyche was irrelevant.\n\nThe exploitative tendencies of industries that thrive off creativity are pretty much an open secret. Which is par for the course with almost any industry that relies on human capital. The only trouble with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/pov\/millennials-artists-selfies-van-gogh-self-portait\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">artists<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is that they often become accomplices in their own exploitation, truly believing it to be the only path to supposed greatness. There is a scene in Imtiaz Ali\u2019s film <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rockstar<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that has stayed with me. The record-label owner Dhingra (a brilliant Piyush Mishra), gets news of Jordan\u2019s (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/pop-culture\/ranbir-kapoor-birthday-actor-bollywood\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ranbir Kapoor,<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in one of the finest performances of his career) arrest. He gleefully turns it into an eye-grabbing poster \u2013 with jail bars, no less \u2013 for the next album which he accurately predicts to be a sure-shot bestseller riding on the misfortunes of its troubled star.\n\n<i>Rockstar<\/i> is one of the rare contemporary Hindi movies that looks beyond the success of an artist, delving into their life\u2019s ugly realities. Hollywood, of course, has a long tradition of such movies that range from biopics like <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Frida<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/pop-culture\/bohemian-rhapsody-review-queen-freddie-mercury\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bohemian Rhapsody<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to more fictionalised tales like <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whiplash <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Star is Born<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> . There have also been more oblique references to the idea of an artist being a madman as in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Shining<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and in a rather twisted way, in Bradley Cooper\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Limitless<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Not just movies, David Duchovny\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Californication<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was a TV series that attempted to satirise, with varying success, the trope of a \u201ctroubled writer\u201d by stretching it to a comically painful extreme.\n\nIn India, we have had <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aashiqui 2<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which was largely lazy, stereotypical and painfully tropey. But we also have classics like <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abhimaan<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kabhi Kabhie, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and in its own sweet way, even <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Guddi<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that actually take a very real look at the cost of being an artist. None of these movies however take an approach as immediate and encompassing as <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rockstar <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">which actually factors in truths that tend to be glossed over: Corporate greed is not the only thing it gets right. There\u2019s also the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/health\/loneliness-caregiver-mental-health-disease-illness\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">loneliness<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, obsession, frustration, exploitation, broken families, substance abuse, paparazzi, and blinding ambition, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rockstar<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> had all the elements in place.\n\n<blockquote class=\"quote--center\"><p>Popular culture, after all, has the power to influence aspiring artists in more ways than we can imagine.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nThe first time I watched the movie, I was going through a difficult time in my life, struggling to find a balance between my <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/pov\/moving-out-home-childhood-parents-heartbreak\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">personal life<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, professional compulsions, and artistic ambitions. Jordan\u2019s ambitions resonated with me as much as his struggle to find his feet in a world that refused to understand him. His frustrations and helplessness echoed my own, and in a way seemed cathartic. The idea that we were all doomed to suffer seemed strangely comforting, a kind of escape that allowed me to get away from finding any real solutions to my own problems.\n\nIn a world where artists dying at 27 is a legitimate phenomenon, where the likes of Avicii and Chester Benington continue to be the victims of their own greatness, the failure of our films and books to address the real issues behind stardom \u2013 rather, valorising that sadness \u2013 seems even more problematic. Popular culture, after all, has the power to influence aspiring artists in more ways than we can imagine. I lost the angst I was wallowing in when I first watched <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rockstar<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> almost a decade ago. I went from being endlessly fascinated to endlessly worried about everything the movie stands for. Irrespective of the struggles that I faced as a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/pov\/writer-freelancer-life-money\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">writer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, one thing became very clear to me \u2013 any amount of material or artistic success that I might find will become entirely pointless if I was fundamentally\u00a0 sacrificing myself at the altar of great art.\n\nAs one of my WhatsApp group members said in conclusion of the ongoing discussion, we shouldn\u2019t need to believe that our supposed greatness will always come at the price of our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/humour\/international-day-happiness-joy\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">happiness<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. And if it does, is that really greatness or is it an illusion of it?\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The perception of a tortured artist is so glorified that it has become perversely aspirational. There is something highly alluring about the idea of deep sorrow and depression acting as a springboard for great pieces of art. The artists know it, and so does the market. But is this greatness worth it if you become an accomplice in your own exploitation?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":212,"featured_media":5751,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[3552,2464,9681,9682,2023,3426,6342,2644],"class_list":["post-5750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pov","tag-art","tag-artist","tag-artist-troupe","tag-imitiaz-ali","tag-movie","tag-poet","tag-rockstar","tag-writer"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why Imtiaz Ali\u2019s Rockstar Made Me Stop Glorifying the \u201cTortured Artist\u201d Trope<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The perception of a tortured artist is so glorified that it has become perversely aspirational. 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But is this greatness worth it if you become an accomplice in your own exploitation?","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Runjhun Noopur","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5750#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5750"},"author":{"name":"Runjhun Noopur","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/2bc2d16856782f6c2834c283e7ce9c86"},"headline":"Why Imtiaz Ali\u2019s Rockstar Made Me Stop Glorifying the \u201cTortured Artist\u201d Trope","datePublished":"2016-07-15T17:11:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5750"},"wordCount":1199,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5750#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1574662113.png","keywords":["Art","artist","artist troupe","Imitiaz Ali","Movie","Poet","rockstar","writer"],"articleSection":["POV"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5750","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5750","name":"Why Imtiaz Ali\u2019s Rockstar Made Me Stop Glorifying the \u201cTortured Artist\u201d Trope","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5750#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5750#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1574662113.png","datePublished":"2016-07-15T17:11:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/2bc2d16856782f6c2834c283e7ce9c86"},"description":"The perception of a tortured artist is so glorified that it has become perversely aspirational. There is something highly alluring about the idea of deep sorrow and depression acting as a springboard for great pieces of art. The artists know it, and so does the market. But is this greatness worth it if you become an accomplice in your own exploitation?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5750#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5750"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5750#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1574662113.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1574662113.png","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5750#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Imtiaz Ali\u2019s Rockstar Made Me Stop Glorifying the \u201cTortured Artist\u201d Trope"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/2bc2d16856782f6c2834c283e7ce9c86","name":"Runjhun Noopur","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1728c7835a3f17dff6d6e65f3f27aadde30d7bdcb3d11fb9da03b5534d74ce1b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1728c7835a3f17dff6d6e65f3f27aadde30d7bdcb3d11fb9da03b5534d74ce1b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1728c7835a3f17dff6d6e65f3f27aadde30d7bdcb3d11fb9da03b5534d74ce1b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Runjhun Noopur"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=212"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1574662113.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/212"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}