First film to face a new order by a court.
By Prabhav Hiremath
MUMBAI: Controversies that erupt either around their production stage or at release time are a part and parcel of Bollywood films. The reasons differ from movie to movie, range from scenes that depict violence, sex and nudity to fear of thrashing religious sentiments.
Recent examples of Hindi films mired in controversy include Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Ram Leela over allegations of hurting Hindu religion and misuse of the title. Before that, Indian superhero flick Krrish 3 aborted its release over allegations of script copyright violation. Even sensitive films like Madras Café had landed in controversy over allegations of LTTE cadres in bad light.
The latest addition to this menu of films getting publicity for the wrong reasons is Tigmanshu Dhulia’s action packed Bullett Raja starring Bollywood’s Nawab Saif Ali Khan and the Khamosh yet Dabangg girl Sonakshi Sinha.
A court in Pakistan court has passed a prohibitive order in response to a petition filed by Mubashir Lucman, a TV talk show host. The order says that no Indian film will neither be censored nor released across the border. Bullett Raja is its first victim.
This move is a consequence of a tiff between TV channels in the neighboring nation, wherein one of the channels didn’t fetch any satellite rights for several Bollywood films. Amjad Rashid, a leading distributor of Hindi films in Pakistan, told the media there that “So, it won’t open this Friday. There will be no decision on this till Monday.”
B-town has reacted strongly to the new development.
Producer Mukesh Bhatt is “distraught” over the verdict; filmmaker and distributor Ramesh Sippy expressed, “This is as weird as it can be.”
Earlier too, Saif Ali Khan’s home production venture Agent Vinod was banned in Pakistan due to Islamabad Censor Board feeling the film could hurt local sentiments.