I see your Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar and raise you a Babul Supriyo and Lata Mangeshkar. Really, that’s the best offer I can come up with.

Seriously though, watching the Grammy Awards left me more depressed than elated because it just highlighted the dismal state of our celebrity-obsessed nation. Last night, I sat and watched the Grammy Awards after many moons mainly because I’d read that rapper Kendrick Lamar’s performance was as strong a political statement as Beyoncé’s Formation a couple of weeks ago. If you’ve watched and heard Formation, you’ll know that’s quite the tall claim to make.

I have to say, Lamar’s performance lived up to all the hype. Who would think that an album called To Pimp A Butterfly would be the catalyst for a statement on racial inequality in America – that too on a massive platform as widely watched as the Grammy Awards is?

Lamar’s performance – much like Beyoncé’s at the Super Bowl – could not be interpreted for anything other than the political statement it was. He walked out with his hands and ankles shackled together with others dressed as what seemed to be prisoners, but reminded me of a chain gang. His entire performance was about racial inequality and discrimination in America from the get go. He performed the first verse from one of his earlier songs, The Blacker The Berry, which is a comment on Lamar’s own hypocrisy on the Trayvon Martin killing, then moved on to the Black Lives Matter anthem, Alright and ended with a new song of his. But throughout the references were clear. The entire seven-minute high-octane performance ended with Lamar standing in front of a map of Africa with the word Compton written on it. Compton being the volatile California area in Los Angeles which Lamar had grown up in.

It’s difficult to follow the lyrics and the words Lamar was rapping, but you can read them here.

But of the lyrics, the ones which resonated clearly are –

“I’m African-American,
I’m African,
I’m black as the moon,
heritage of a small village…
My hair is nappy,
my dick is big,
my nose is round and wide
You hate me don’t you?
You hate my people,
your plan is to terminate my culture.”

The beginning verse of Alright, was sung to a bonfire blazing on the stage with tribal dancers dancing round it. The entire performance was riveting.

Why his performance is impressive is because Lamar is at the cusp of fame and this would honestly be the wrong time to jeopardise his career or alienate fans. But here’s a celebrity who realised the platform he had been given – and decided to stand for what he believed in. He did so knowing that his message would reach millions of people. Reportedly, about 24.95 million people watched the Grammys. That’s no small number to reach with a message as important as that of Black Lives Matter.

Lamar’s performance of course follows in the footsteps of Beyoncé’s Formation, in which she came out as a political activist – and how. Beyonce and Jay Z have more often than not been criticised for not taking a political stance on any issue, despite their massive celebrity status and therefore influence. But she took all that criticism and flushed it away with the release of her music video and her performance at the Super Bowl.

The video of Formation is impressive because it’s a clear comment on owning your black identity and roots, being victimised, standing up for your rights. The video opens with her sitting on a submerged police car, which when it finally sinks in the last shot has “New Orleans Police” written very clearly on the windshield. It’s a comment on many issues – the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the #BlackLivesMatter movement, Martin Luther King Jr. is there in the background as graffiti on a wall which also has the words “Stop shooting us”. My favourite scene from the video is of a little African-American boy dancing while standing in front of a police riot squad. Who put their hands up on his cue – a reference to the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” movement against police violence after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson.

Beyonce’s Super Bowl performance, once again watched by millions, had her backup dancers wearing berets and black leather à la the Black Panthers and were photographed with their fists raised while standing in the formation of the letter X. The black power salute referenced the salute by athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. It’s now come out that Jay Z and she have posted bailed for multiple protestors in Ferguson and Baltimore, and they attend Black Lives Matter events.

But most importantly, Beyonce didn’t need to make a political statement. It’s not like the criticism of her lack of involvement in political activism was affecting her popularity or her record sales. Yet she did stick her neck out and use the platform of the Super Bowl to reveal a persona and stance that has not gone down well at all with many fans and the police, who have asked for a boycott of her shows.

This overt celebrity activism is what saddened me. Because it once again made me aware of the fact that our celebrities rarely, if ever stand, up for what they believe in. And in India, unlike in America, the number of celebrities who join politics is far far greater in number. So one would think that while they were celebrities, they’d have some political opinion to share. I understand they may be hesitant to share their point of view, because they don’t want to be persecuted for saying something as non-controversial as “India seems slightly intolerant”.

To be fair, compared to even a couple of years back, there are at least a handful of celebrities today who do make statements – on political and social issues – such as actress Swara Bhaskar most recently, or actors Farhan Akhtar and Anupam Kher or singer Vishal Dadlani. But, leaving aside Akhtar, none of the others who’ve spoken up are A-list celebrities. Our A-listers and superstars prefer to remain silent or to backtrack their statements when and if they make any. The last time a mega celebrity took a stand and stood by it was during the Emergency when Kishore Kumar refused to sing for Indira Gandhi’s 20-point plan. Which resulted in our homegrown Goebbels, then Information & Broadcasting minister, VC Shukla, announcing a ban on Kishore Kumar’s songs being played on All India Radio. More recently, a Hyderabad-based rap group called DeathRap have released a song about Rohith Vemula.

But can you think of one nationally known celebrity – actor or singer or even sportsperson – who has used any public platform like Filmfare Awards or Bigg Boss to make a political statement? I even understand not making a political statement, but to underline your silence by going and hobnobbing with the powers that be is even worse. Much as we saw Aamir Khan doing when he went to meet prime minister, Narendra Modi last week.

And therein lies the tragedy. For a country as politically charged as ours and with as much social injustice and discrimination as ours currently, it’s a shame that our celebrities never stick their necks out to take a stand or influence public opinion. Yes, the law’s a bitch and can be used against them, which can make the best of us wary about speaking our mind. But maybe they could get a spine and learn from the West and try a jab at celebrity activism.

Or must we resign ourselves to seeing our celebrities only behave as obedient performing monkeys on any platform they’re present at, like this –