24 January 2013, 03:43 PM IST
Kamal Haasan has made many good movies for which he got bouquets; and some bad movies for which he got brickbats. Now he is getting punished for making a movie that virtually nobody has watched. It's unfair—and here's why.
The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday evening decided not to allow the screening of 'Vishwaroopam,' which was to release on Friday, for 15 days. This means he would lose out heavily to pirates who would be ready with digital versions copied from Sri Lanka, Malaysia and the US, where the movie may be on schedule. Kamal says Rs 95 crore went into the making of 'Vishwaroopam' which deals with the subject of global terrorism.
Now, why the 15-day moratorium? The government says it is to protect communal harmony in the run-up to Milad-un-Nabi which coincides with the scheduled opening of the movie. The move comes in the wake of representations from a bunch of Muslim organisations in Tamil Nadu which felt that the movie tarnishes Islam and Muslims.
Well, I haven't watched the movie. And I understand neither has Mr M H Jawahirullah, the leader of the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam which is at the forefront of the protest against 'Vishwaroopam.' Kamal did screen the movie for 13 representatives of different Muslim organisations last week, probably the biggest mistake he did after managing to extricate himself from the mess of the DTH-theatre simultaneous release conundrum. The protestors are yet to spell out which scene is objectionable—they would soon – but just clamour for a ban on the movie, not just a few cuts.
Kamal says it is cultural terrorism. What he doesn't say – for obvious reasons – is that the government is bowing to its perpetrators. Who are these guardians of harmony to stall a movie that adheres to the rules of the land? Some 42 members of the censor boards in Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad watched the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions of 'Vishwaroopam' and cleared it. Now, 13 members of Muslim organisations who also got to watch the movie have overruled it. They should've been emboldened by their success in getting the recent Vijay-starrer 'Thuppakki' – which too deals with Islamic terrorism – go through a few cuts.
I, for one, don't believe these groups represent the unanimous voice of the Muslim community. While the moderate Muslims, unfortunately, refuse to speak out, it is noteworthy that the Indian Union Muslim League, which is the biggest political party of Muslims in the country, has not opposed the movie, yet. If a cross section of society feels the movie is anti-Islamic – after watching the movie that is – let such voices be heard and debated. Till then, it's for the censor board to decide on whether a film should be screened.
If the government means that it should act on the imagined concerns of a section of Muslims, the same logic should apply to the demands of people like PMK leader S Ramadoss who wants to ban all inter-caste marriages. How awful that would be!
So, it's not that the government doesn't see the lack of logic. It's just that it sees another opportunity at minority appeasement. The Muslim groups protesting against 'Innocence of Muslims' attracted attention in September last year when they smashed security cameras in front of the US consulate in Chennai, but I don't think chief minister J Jayalalithaa is so weak-kneed to take the recent protests against 'Vishwaroopam' as a threat to law and order.
Besides the politics of appeasement, there could be other factors that went against Kamal. He was among the speakers at the release of a book on Union finance minister P Chidambaram titled 'P Chidambaram- Oru Paarvai' on December 30, 2012. Encomia are mandatory at such functions and many including DMK president M Karunanidhi, actor Rajnikanth and Tamil poet Vairamuthu poured enough of that. Whether he meant it or not, Kamal then expressed a desire—to see P Chidambaram as the Prime Minister. Anyone who knows the equation between Jayalalithaa and Chidambaram would have shrieked "oops!"
Kamal, who is in the US for the release of 'Vishwaroopam' there, sent this message to the media: I am in a different time zone. Either media waits for me to wake up or justice will. Let both.
Post script:
A couple of hours after this blog was posted, the Madras high court decided to keep in abeyance the release of 'Vishwaroopam' till January 28. A judge would watch the movie on January 26 before taking a decision.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
In defence of Kamal Haasan's 'Vishwaroopam'
Dengan url
http://osteoporosista.blogspot.com/2013/01/in-defence-of-kamal-haasans-vishwaroopam.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
In defence of Kamal Haasan's 'Vishwaroopam'
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
In defence of Kamal Haasan's 'Vishwaroopam'
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar