Karan Johar’s ‘voluntary’ donation to the soldiers’ fund and willingness to pay tribute to the Uri martyrs at the behest of the MNS hasn’t gone down too well with Bollywood filmmakers
Karan Johar’s ‘voluntary’ donation to the soldiers’ fund and willingness to pay tribute to the Uri martyrs at the behest of the MNS hasn’t gone down too well with Bollywood filmmakers
After weeks of sleepless nights over the ambiguity of its film’s release, team Ae Dil Hai Mushkil breathed a sigh of relief on Saturday, when Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray’s squad promised to ‘allow’ a smooth release of the film.
It came at a heavy price of course—Rs 5 crore to be precise. Complying with MNS’ demand, Karan Johar allegedly agreed to pay Rs 5 crores to the soldiers’ fund along with paying a tribute to the martyrs of the Uri terror attack (this will be shown as a slide at the beginning of the film). His contemporaries in the show business however, aren’t lauding the gesture.
Ashoke Pandit, Vice President, Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPAA): It's good that things are back on track for the film, but succumbing to the pressures of a political party and forcing a producer to shell out money is utter lawlessness. I'm shocked and appalled by the fact that the producer's guild gave in to the tactics of a political party. You cannot hold a producer to ransom and demand money. It should solely be a producer's decision about where he wishes to put his money. Who is Raj Thackeray to call the shots I would like to ask him how much has he donated to the soldiers fund!
Vivek Agnihotri, Filmmaker: Uri attacks happened a month ago, so why this emotional gesture right now This is more of a compromise and this doesn't reflect my point of view. Creative work will be a soft target now. Politicians are doing what they do best, but why couldn't we, as creative folks, stand up for what's right There's so much of hard work that goes into a project, why should it be abandoned If rich and successful people can't stand up for their rights, then who can help them
Karan Anshuman, Filmmaker: Asking producers to pay up is not okay. This is pure extortion and I don't think the army should accept this extortion money. There's no difference between political parties now and gangsters in the '90s. This is the worst kind of goondagardi you can imagine. And all of this is politically motivated; it has nothing to do with any kind of actual, true patriotism. I really don't think the army should accept this. I would not cooperate with any such rule that requires me to give in writing that we won't work with any sort of artistes.
Onir, filmmaker: My sympathies are with Karan. This is not done and it’s extremely unfortunate. It’s not like he had planned for things to unfold this way. However, it’s rather sad to say the least. The film was shot when the bilateral relationship was better, when Indian and Pakistani delegates were visiting each other and trade was healthy. As it is for a filmmaker, there is enough pressure to handle before a film’s release. This is just an added and very, very unfair step that has been taken.
