Mumbai, July 28: Raj Thackeray wants Sharmila Tagore’s job — he has announced that his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena will play censor board.
Warning film producers not to use “Bombay” or “Bambai”, the MNS chief said: “We will censor (examine) all such films to ensure the city is referred to as Mumbai.”
Raj was speaking at the launch of the MNS Cine Workers’ Association, a new union to fight for the rights of film workers and technicians, yesterday.
His acolytes were quick to suggest the diktat would be enforced. “We will monitor all films and TV serials. If we find that Bombay or Bambai has been used, we will request the producers and directors to remove it. We will not allow the film to be released or the serial to be aired (if the change is not made),” Amey Khopkar, the president of the MNS Cine Workers’ Association, said.
With his “Mumbai” diktat, Raj is following uncle and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who had to be shown several films in the past before they could hit the theatres.
Many believe it was not a mere coincidence that Raj made the fresh threat on a day that happened to be the birthday of his cousin Uddhav, the Sena chief’s son. The Shiv Sena has long been known for its Marathi pride campaigns.
The theme found resonance in Raj’s speech yesterday, when he claimed the Dadasaheb Phalke award — the highest film honour to be bestowed by the government — was a “testimony to the contributions” of Marathis.
Bollywood seemed calm. “Censorship doesn’t fall under a film union’s purview. The industry recognises the censor board as the authority,” said Vipul Shah, whose Akshay Kumar-starrer Singh is Kinng will release soon. Sharmila Tagore heads the censor board.
Asked if the MNS’s censor plan was a political stunt, Shah steered clear of controversy. “I think it shows Raj’s strong emotions towards his state. But I am confident the industry will resolve the issue. We aren’t unduly worried.”
Mahesh Bhatt, though, didn’t seem to mince words, describing the threat by Raj’s party as a “shameful and sad” attempt to “muzzle” Bollywood. “I condemn any attempt to muzzle people through strong-arm tactics.” Raj is using the “Bollywood engine” to “keep his commitment to Marathi self-pride”, he said.
“A filmmaker is a vulnerable animal, especially when his film inches towards release. You can blackmail and make him kneel down,” said Bhatt, who resisted demands for cuts in his 1998 film Zakhm.
Others have played safe. In 1995, Mani Ratnam organised a special screening of his controversy-stalked Bombay for the Shiv Sena boss’s “clearance”, after the censor board had passed the film’s controversial sequences. More recently, Ram Gopal Varma showed Thackeray Sarkar and Sarkar Raj before release.
