Bollywood gets reserved as politicians remain backward

Prakash Jha Aarakshan again sparks the debate. Should censor board throw its scissors and call the political leaders to certify films from now on. Is India heading towards appointing censor board for every state and political party for every film? Is Censor Board a bunch of morons who don't know their jobs and the government a helpless spectator? How long Bollywood will remain a soft target. How long will a politician bully a producer? It's strange but true, India - the world's biggest democracy is also the nation that produces the highest number of films but still we as an audience and as a filmmaker are reserved for their choice of films. It's the same story but with different actors for Bollywood, but this time it's more dramatic. Prakash Jha the latest casualty to the backward and rigid stubborn thinking of our politicians saw his office in Mumbai attacked by political activists who wished to obstruct the release of his film 'Aarakshan', based on caste-based reservations in the Indian education system. The movie 'Aarakshan' (Reservation) has gathered enough steam with political leaders warning of protests if the film's stand is found to be in conflict with the Constitutional provisions. Many pro reservation leaders like Chhagan Bhujbal, Lalu Prasad, Sharad Yadav, Mayawati, Gopinath Munde, Ramdas Athavale, and many to follow have asked Prakash Jha to schedule a preview for concerned leaders calling for a clarification from the makers of 'Aarakshan', directed by Prakash Jha. All this is nothing but a befitting example of the level of freedom of expression available for any film maker in Bollywood. Agreed that freedom of expression does not allow anyone to degrade any community but a benchmark for political correctness is the need of the hour. Sadly, the quota of expression is getting reserved film after film in Bollywood. 'Aarakshan' is a work of fiction and talks of reservation from both points as every coin as its two sides but the idiot flag bearers of caste and community have objections as they fear the film might show those points which they have hidden from their voters. The same voter who has the intellect to bring them to power but when it comes to watching films, the leader takes charge of the person's entertainment programs for the weekend. How democratic is that. The government doesn�t have anything in concrete to stop this arm twisting tactics and the Bollywood has to suffer. The argument over the filmmakers creating this furor is not digestible as nobody will risk corers for a publicity gimmick which in the end results in the movie being pulled down from theatres. The film industry has always been made a soft target by the politicians for their political mileage, be it the trimming of Barber from 'Billu', the weird argument over the beard in 'Sing Is Kinng', 'Love Aaj Kal', 'Dil Bole Hadippa' reference of Bombay instead of Mumbai in 'Wake Up Sid' or the hue and cry over the so called offensive lyrics of 'Aaja Nachle'. It must be recalled that a couple of year back in Punjab a film on inter-caste love 'Baghi'  was pulled out from the theatres due to a dialogue which was found to be objectionable by one section of the Sikhs. Poor Sukhminder Dhanjal the maker of the film has to fall prey to the pseudocasteist flag bearers and pulled his film out from the theatres. But later on it was a slap on the face of those politicians because the film won the National Award for the Best Punjabi film in '2005', the film starred Om Puri and Girja Shanker in the main lead. Bollywood legend Ashok Kumar who rose to stardom with 'Achyut Kanya' (1936), the film was based Niranjan Pal's story, 'The Level Crossing'. 'Achyut Kanya' charted the tragic love story of a Brahmin youth and an untouchable girl. Blind to the boundaries demarcated by caste and class. The film was a biting comment on the pernicious caste system and the religious fundamentalism it spewed. It struck an instant chord, packing in house full shows since its grand premiere at Mumbai's Roxy theatre, and smashing existing box-office records of that time. It was 1936. There was not a single protest in those years, and today an entertaining film starring the superstar of the millennium Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Prateik Babbar and Manoj Bajpai in lead which tries to speak on the issue from both the angles has to face the ire of the leaders of the political parties who claim to be supporters of the down trodden and live a life that has all the comforts available from money. Before ending there's one more irony which needs to be underlined. In 1913, when the pioneering personal cinematography of Dada Saheb Phalke - the architect of Indian cinema gave magical movement to Indian mythology, India was still a British colony. And now after 98 years, Bollywood finds itself under Politicians colony.