Are we living in a Jungle Raj or a secular democratic country is the question being raised by concerned and law-abiding people after a BJP leader raised the bounty on the heads of film producer-director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Deepika Padukone, the lead actor in his film Padmavati.
Surajpal Amu, the saffron party’s Haryana leader and chief media coordinator, added more fuel to the raging controversy over Bhansali’s magnum opus on Sunday by announcing that he would offer Rs 10 crores – double the amount offered by Meerut-based Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Yuva Mahasabha chief Thakur Abhishek Som. Amu did not stop at that; he took warnings to new levels, threatening “to break the legs” of Ranveer Singh, who played Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khilji.
The film’s release which is slated for December 1 has already been postponed amidst unabated threats and warnings to theatre owners and raging protests from north to south over ‘distortion of historical facts’ in the period film. Then why political leaders who are nothing to do with cinema are turning a film into a national issue and keeping the cauldron boiling? Is it, as Shabana Azmi says, for electoral gains?
Whatever the motive is, if BJP governments in states and at the Centre allow their cadre to unleash terror in the form of life threats, maiming or breaking limbs, now or later will face the backlash. If these leaders are not reined in by party bosses, the situation will be akin to the rule of Taliban or Islamic State.
Words may not be translated into action. But they are capable of inciting mobs to go on rampage. Over the years, films have become favourite means to achieve certain ends in the hands of a few organizations and individuals – now political leaders — for whom the freedom of creativity and expression has little meaning. While there is a need to address the aggrieved community’s concerns, real or perceived, about the film in question, they should not be allowed to hold individuals and the society to ransom. That’s what is happening now.
