Jha's movie lands in soup

Courting controversy

Noted Bollywood director Prakash Jha’s upcoming film “Chakravyuh,” which is based on Maoism has courted controversy for naming India’s top industrialists in the lyrics of one of their songs.

After the controversial lyrics came to the fore, the Censor Board objected to the contents and refused to pass it until the authorities concerned come with a disclaimer.  The song
“Tata, Birla, Ambani aur Bata, sab ne hai desh ko kaata,” has been picturised on Abhay Deol, who plays a hardcore naxalite on the reel life.

Though Jha insisted that these names have been used symbolically and not intended to target any particular industrialist, the Censor Board did not agree and said that the industrialists were brands.

The Bihar-born producer-director then approached the review committee of the Censor Board of Film Certification, but the screening panel cited similar grounds for rejection and suggested him to put a disclaimer that the song was not a personal attack on country’s top industrialists.

“The Censor Board told me that only if we put a disclaimer saying that these names have been used symbolically and we do not mean any harm or disrespect to any individual or brand will the song be cleared,” Jha said.

But then, this is not the first time that Jha’s movie has run into trouble. Last year, Amitabh Bachchan-starrer “Aarakshan” had drawn flak from politicians of all hue over the issue of reservation. Earlier, his home-production “Rajneeti” was embroiled in controversy when Katrina Kaif’s character in the movie was believed to be based on Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Even “Apaharan”, based on Bihar’s kidnapping industry, had run into rough weather over portrayal of a controversial Rashtriya Janata Dal MP in poor light.

In 2003, when Jha released his film “Gangajal”, a movie made against the backdrop of the infamous Bhagalpur blinding case, the main villain of the film was named Sadhu Yadav. The screening of the movie was stalled all over Bihar as Lalu’s brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav and his henchmen ran amok on the streets of Patna.

2012    Chakravyuh
2011    Aarakshan
2009    Rajneeti
2006    Apaharan
2003    Gangajal