Industry resents Maneka intrusion

By Our Correspondent
The film industry is sore over Maneka Gandhi assuming extra-constitutional powers, by threatening to disrupt shoots of movies on silly pretexts for featuring animals. As reported last week, through her NGO, People for Animals, she has sent legal notices to Manisha Koirala and producer R Mohan for a scene in Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya, depicting Manisha tugging at an elephant’s tail. Industry leaders say Maneka Gandhi is out to get political mileage out of the issue. Otherwise she would not have asked her aide, Rita Vazirani, of the NGO, to ask producer Mohan to meet her in person.

Says Pahlaj Nihalani, "Maneka Gandhi is obviously gunning for cheap publicity. She has not seen the film but has seen only the promos, which do not prove that the producer has meted out cruelty to the elephant. Like other pressure groups, she is using her trust to twist the arms of producers and create unnecessary trouble. If she wishes to ban the film, what on earth is the censor board for? Let the censors decide whether or not any cruelty has been meted out to the animal. As a responsible minister of the present government she should know better than to misuse her powers. If the censors feel the filmmakers has flouted rules, let it seek cuts. Why should Gandhi interfere in what is essentially the CBFC’s job? In any case, if she has so much love for animals, why doesn’t she seek to ban the slaughter houses in the country? If playing with an elephant’s tail amounts to cruelty, what about the circuses in the country where whips are used to not only train animals but also make them fall in line? Is she blind to the roadside madaris who treat monkeys and bears cruelly?" he asks.

Asha Parekh, chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification said the film had not come in for censorship, so she is not in a position to say whether any cruelty was involved in the scenes. "I love animals and I know what rules there are against cruelty to animals. There are already two to three organisations representing protection to animals. I agree that there should not be cruelty to animals shown in films," she feels.
Surinder Kapoor president of the Film Producers Guild of India said Maneka Gandhi should not be allowed to interfere with the censorship of films by imposing her views. "Let the censors decide whether the producer has crossed the limits of the law governing the protection of animals. I think she should be more objective and not be guided just by the promos which do not give a clear picture as to what the producer intends to show in the film," he said.