'Indian govt bowing to cultural terrorism'
NEW DELHI: India's film industry on Monday accused the Hindu nationalist-led government of bowing to 'cultural terrorism' after an acclaimed director was forced to stop work on her latest movie following violence by Hindu fundamentalists. Film directors and stars from the world's most prolific film industry denounced Sunday's directive by a state government freezing shooting on the latest film from Canadian director Deepa Mehta in the holy Hindu city of Varanasi.
The order came after a supporter of the militant Hindu Shiv Sena party tried to commit suicide to protest against the movie 'Water' -- which marks the final part of Indian-born Mehta's trilogy about her mother country. Although the script has been kept under wraps, the film has attracted the ire of Hindu right-wingers. Set in Varanasi in the 1930s, it allegedly shows impoverished widows being sexually exploited and depicts an inter-caste love affair, taboo in traditional Hindu society.
Veteran director Mahesh Bhatt said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, whose Hindu nationalist BJP party rules the northern state of Uttar Pradesh where Varanasi is located, had failed to ensure artistic freedom. "My immediate response is that the government has succumbed to cultural terrorism, which is more insidious and terrible than the underworld." "You have an enemy within," Bhatt told AFP.
"What is appalling is that despite clear instructions by the prime minister, the state government is not falling in line. "The system is not working. If the body does not obey the head, it means the system is sick and diseased." The central government had given a green light to the script of 'Water' before the Uttar Pradesh authorities issued the banning order.
The Hindu newspaper said in an editorial on Monday that both New Delhi and the Uttar Pradesh government had 'emerged badly' from the controversy.
it said, pointing out that "BJP leaders in Uttar Pradesh have openly sided with those who have raised a hue and cry about the film."
The first film in Mehta's trilogy, 'Fire', also attracted similar protests for showing two sisters-in-law, both trapped in loveless marriages, falling in love. Leading Indian film actress and parliamentarian Shabana Azmi defended her role in 'Water,' saying it was a movie about liberation. "For that you have to show oppression. If there is no oppression what are you liberating?" she said, urging a public response to what she described as a 'dangerous trend' of religious intolerance.
Red tape, squeamishness and other hurdles, have put off several leading foreign producers and directors from filming in India. The affected films include 'Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom' and Jean-Jacques Annaud's 'Seven Years in Tibet.' 'City of Joy' -- a film based on the eastern Indian city of Calcutta by French author Dominique Lapierre and starring Patrick Swayze and Shabani Azmi -- faced violent attacks while it was being shot on location.
Prime Minister Vajpayee spoke out against censorship while opening a World Book fair in New Delhi at the weekend. "We have seen books being banned and authors persecuted. But neither burning nor banning has been able to suppress the human mind," Vajpayee said. But Home Secretary L.K. Advani, considered a nationalist hawk, said on Monday that the protests against 'Water' had to be given due consideration. "I believe that the film has to be made with the consensus of its producer and those who are objecting to its shooting," Advani told reporters.
Actress Nafisa Ali, who doubles up as a social activist, said the 'Water' controversy sent a strong warning about the 'so-called secularism' of the current government. "I don't see any women shouting and raving about 'Water,'" she said.
NEW DELHI: India's film industry on Monday accused the Hindu nationalist-led government of bowing to 'cultural terrorism' after an acclaimed director was forced to stop work on her latest movie following violence by Hindu fundamentalists. Film directors and stars from the world's most prolific film industry denounced Sunday's directive by a state government freezing shooting on the latest film from Canadian director Deepa Mehta in the holy Hindu city of Varanasi.
The order came after a supporter of the militant Hindu Shiv Sena party tried to commit suicide to protest against the movie 'Water' -- which marks the final part of Indian-born Mehta's trilogy about her mother country. Although the script has been kept under wraps, the film has attracted the ire of Hindu right-wingers. Set in Varanasi in the 1930s, it allegedly shows impoverished widows being sexually exploited and depicts an inter-caste love affair, taboo in traditional Hindu society.
Veteran director Mahesh Bhatt said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, whose Hindu nationalist BJP party rules the northern state of Uttar Pradesh where Varanasi is located, had failed to ensure artistic freedom. "My immediate response is that the government has succumbed to cultural terrorism, which is more insidious and terrible than the underworld." "You have an enemy within," Bhatt told AFP.
"What is appalling is that despite clear instructions by the prime minister, the state government is not falling in line. "The system is not working. If the body does not obey the head, it means the system is sick and diseased." The central government had given a green light to the script of 'Water' before the Uttar Pradesh authorities issued the banning order.
The Hindu newspaper said in an editorial on Monday that both New Delhi and the Uttar Pradesh government had 'emerged badly' from the controversy.
"Is the seemingly moderate and accommodative posture struck by the Vajpayee administration a cover up "
The first film in Mehta's trilogy, 'Fire', also attracted similar protests for showing two sisters-in-law, both trapped in loveless marriages, falling in love. Leading Indian film actress and parliamentarian Shabana Azmi defended her role in 'Water,' saying it was a movie about liberation. "For that you have to show oppression. If there is no oppression what are you liberating?" she said, urging a public response to what she described as a 'dangerous trend' of religious intolerance.
Red tape, squeamishness and other hurdles, have put off several leading foreign producers and directors from filming in India. The affected films include 'Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom' and Jean-Jacques Annaud's 'Seven Years in Tibet.' 'City of Joy' -- a film based on the eastern Indian city of Calcutta by French author Dominique Lapierre and starring Patrick Swayze and Shabani Azmi -- faced violent attacks while it was being shot on location.
Prime Minister Vajpayee spoke out against censorship while opening a World Book fair in New Delhi at the weekend. "We have seen books being banned and authors persecuted. But neither burning nor banning has been able to suppress the human mind," Vajpayee said. But Home Secretary L.K. Advani, considered a nationalist hawk, said on Monday that the protests against 'Water' had to be given due consideration. "I believe that the film has to be made with the consensus of its producer and those who are objecting to its shooting," Advani told reporters.
Actress Nafisa Ali, who doubles up as a social activist, said the 'Water' controversy sent a strong warning about the 'so-called secularism' of the current government. "I don't see any women shouting and raving about 'Water,'" she said.
Go and ask widows in Varanasi about their life and whether they think it is fitting that God gave them birth for this misery and you will know if the film is misleading or not
Comment