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Local Political Squabble Makes Article About Bollywood Even More Confusing
29-May-2006
Written by: Alexander Rogers
What’s the big entertainment headline in the world’s largest democracy? Well, if you have to ask...
A veritable torrent of filmmakers, producers and actors flocked to the aid of one of their own, lending moral and political support to Aamir Khan and his fight to get his latest film, "Fanaa," screened. The actor is reported to have ruffled a few feathers of the officials in the Indian state of Gujarat by siding with political opponents of the construction of a dam that is forcing many local residents to leave their homes. The controversy is apparently so heated in that state that the film has been unofficially banned, as exhibitors refused to carry it out of fear of violent reprisals and officials showed their disdain by refusing to grant theaters extra security.
Since then many of Bollywood's power plays and organizations have decided to support Aamir and pressure Gajarat's leaders to end the ban on the film. They assert that while they don't agree with the actor's opinions per se, he had every right to make them under the protections of the Indian Constitution. They further argue that this constitutes an illegal power-play by government leaders who are trying to work around the Constitution and set a precedent of control over how the media is recieved and what media-figures can say about such hot-button issues. The result of the tiff may shake the relationship between the entertainment industry and state governments, but in the U.S. we are sure to remain indifferent.
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