Raj Thackeray ‘Get Well Soon’ – Gandhigiri v/s Goondagiri
I have been overwhelmed by the angst and distress my post on Raj Thackeray http://passionforcinema.com/raj-thackeray-%e2%80%93-get-well-soon has caused. The objective of my post was not to gain sympathy for what happened to me nine years ago. The post was an emotional response to this continued attack on helpless citizens by goondas posing as self-appointed moral police. Goondas who threaten our freedom to express freely. Goondas who have made a mockery of a so-called democracy. Goondas who look for every opportunity to persecute for cheap publicity. Goondas who derive strength from our intertia.
I have decided to respond to these men. I am no longer going to remain a brooding, moaning and bitter spectator. I will answer them in the only way I can think of. Gandhigiri!
On October 10, 2009, I will go to Shivaji Park with my mouth gagged, with flowers and a ‘Get Well Soon’ card for Mr. Thackeray. I urge anybody who feels strongly to join me. I am trying to make a beginning here. To make a silent and peaceful statement to Mr. Thackeray. I hope he is cured of his mental sickness soon. All those who believe he is mentally sick and is creating a whole cadre of sickos please join me in this symbolic protest against an attack on our fundamental rights.
Carry flowers, get well soon cards and do not forget to gag your mouths!
Interested citizens please contact me on hansal.mehta@gmail.com.
Join the facebook group Gandhigiri to combat Raj Thackeray and MNS by following this link http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/group.php?gid=167540803553&ref=mf
Volunteers who can help organize this movement and can help the world know about this movement are welcome!
Add this button to your website
Copy and paste the code in the box on your site –
PS : There have been many voices that feel this ‘Gandhigiri’ approach is futile. No concerted or genuine effort is futile. Truth will prevail. The common man will triumph eventually. Peace will combat all forms of violence – always. I am trying to make a beginning and instead of being cynical let us try to join forces to make a difference.
Tags: gandhigiri, hansal mehta, passion for cinema, Raj Thackeray, Wake Up Sid
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
I’m in.. See you on 10th, just tell the time please.
Did Hansal go ahead with the planned Gandhigiri march at Raj Thackeray’s house?
I am eager to know what happened then.The last comment posted here is on 5 october.
or did all of the “supporters” who signed up as always turn paper tigers?
–with due respect to Hansals feelings and the courage he showed even to write such a piece.
Sanjeev (Pune)
Join the facebook group. Click the links in the blog or the button above for more details on the movement.
Hi Hansal,
At the outset, I empathize with your cause and courage. I also understand it could be risky if not executed well. What you need right now is people’s support especially in the form of understanding the right reason and intentions of your action. Let’s begin with basics then.
I believe you can start by changing your profile picture which goes with your message postings right now. The image of you having a cigarette in mouth is too filmy and far removed from the image you intend to portray, e.g. Gandhigiri. As mahatama said : “We must be the change we wish to see in others”
Trust you will take this in the right spirit in which it’s written.
Wish you all the support.
Pls ask mr. raj thackeray what is the official name of high court situated in mumbai and what action he plans to take
@ hansal – Its nice that you have taken this initiative. But what made me upset was kJo has already apologised to Raj and had put a disclaimer in the movie. I was upset about this, but whn i read your earlier post, i can now imagine wut wud have made him do so.
I am with you….have already joined the grp on FB
~Ashu Bhai MAPRM Wale
@hansal
best of luck, wish I could join, but I am in Bangalore.
Just one request… for your own and others safety make sure the media is there….when you do this, I am sure they will lap it up.
all said, with due respect, please do ensure the safety of the people who would join the march / morcha. i saw an interview of RT on TV y’day and he openly claimed that Bollywood only understands the language of violence. If a guy says that on national tv & get away with it, god only knows who can stop him.
all the better.. bring on the batons.. give wind to the sails.
I would second to what Magik wrote. Presence of media especially of the likes of NDTV or CNN IBN would not hurt the individuals and also ‘you’.
i wish i cud have joined. but could only support the initiative from Delhi.
I second what Magik said. And also bite-crazy Media support could be useful.
Hansal one suggestion from my side. Making it just an RT vs “Freedom of Expression” issue would not really cut ice with the Aam Janta. What you could also do during the march/morcha is raise the following issues.
* What is RT’s stand on the farmer’s suicides in Vidarbha?
* What is his stand on the deaths due to hunger in the tribal belt of N. Maharashtra?
* Will throwing out the “outsiders” and attacking Bollywood personalities improve the civic conditions of Mumbai, which again seems set for another bout of flooding.
Also the points Uddav Thackeray has raised against RT in an interview.
”
why is Raj Thackeray not reserving 80% of flats for Marathi people in the buildings built by him?
Why is he investing in Dubai, why not only here?
He bought Kohinoor Mills in Dadar, from which many Marathi workers were thrown out. He’s building a mall there. Why doesn’t he reserve 80% of shops for Marathi people? ”
RT’s single point agenda is Marathi Asmita, and love for Marathi Manoos. Hit him there, start showing that his love for the Marathi people is not what it really is.
Raise the issue of why RT did not do anything when Gabricha Paus, was pushed off multiplexes, to accomodate Bollywood movies. Trust me RT does not really care if u question him on “Freedom of Expression”, but trust me start questioning him on what he has actually done for the “Marathi Manoos” , it sure gonna hit him somewhere.
@Hansal
Good luck with the initiative.
I sincerely believe that something like this is needed, we as the common man need to wake up and take control of our future.
I am too far away to be with you physically but I could be there!
Soory, I can’t join cause I’m in Chennai, but thanks for doing it on my b’day
. I’ll be following it on the news.
And, hope you write an article about it after you’re done.
@thanks Mr. Ratnakar for pulling the points of farmer’s suicide
Hey Hansal, Hats off to you dude, i wish not only the north indians but all of us who truly wish to have safe mumbai should be a part of this morcha.
Might sound dramatic but honestly I feel no fear. I will go there with the flowers and cards even if I am the only person doing it.
@Ratnakar
This is a symbolic protest. It is actually a prayer for curing Raj Thackeray and sick minds like him. He is neither an elected representative nor a constitutional authority to be even asked questions or made demands to. He just needs help.
You know what, if this protest takes place and gets the local media coverage(i.e. Marathi media), then this will do more good than harm to RT. There are people who will view that as a fight between a lone marathi and countless non-marathis, doesn’t matter if hundreds of marathis join the protest too.
Waise bhi protest se aaj kuch nahi hua hai. Gandhi did not become Gandhi because of his protests, but the protests became larger than what they stand for because it was successfully used by Gandhi.
As tarantino would have said it “Dont get out of your cozy rooms with gags in your mouth and walking kilometers to teach them humanity. These guys dont understand humanity”.
And I dont blame RT for what he is doing, any other Indian in his place would have done the same. He needs a topic to ignite passion and he understands fully well that langauage and region ignites passion in India. Its just that RT has got the opportunity to do this and all the rest who criticize him will never get the opportunity to do that.
So, what you’re saying is that it’s okay to be separationist as long as you are trying to ignite passion?
WTF do you mean “..dont blame RT for what he is doing..”
If you find a gun somehow, will you go and kill those you dislike? and say we can’t blame you because you got an opportunity that not everyone could get?
It is the intention dear friend.. you can choose what to do with that gun. Moreover what opportunity does RT have? He goes in public and says all crap to make people fight and to forward his nonsense agenda.. that is not opportunity.. that is intention.. and not everyone has that intention, it is only his sick mind that he channels the dissatisfaction of the vulnerable common man to garner political mileage. “any other Indian in his place” would not do that. Because not every other Indian has a sick mind like RT.
@Hansal,
Good luck with your protest. I hope you are able to round up supporters in Bollywood and Mumbai .
RT is a goonda and it cannot be tolerated anymore.
Peaceful protests are the people’s right and they can do it time and again to reiterate their feeling.
God willing one day when RT and his goons try this nonsense again the people will rise and protect their own …even if the spineless system fails them.
darkndusky
@Hansal
May I add a few points ::
1. Inform the local police station in advance about your protest march .
2. Inform the media and you will get a lot of channels and journalists covering your protest.
3. R you planning to send a notice to RT in advance about your pretest march?
4. Is it possible to include film-makers/producers association ?
@ Yaatri
Valid points. Hoping to get some help in doing all this !!! Yes, I will inform the police.
at the end of the protest PIL should be filed against raj thackeray.
Dear Hansalji
With deep respect to the step you ll be taking I have few things to say here. Being hardcore fan of yours DPMLY, at first I thought that a PIL should be filed against RT. But actually I sincerely think that such kind of protest (which is likely to get media coverage just because it’s against RT) will end up sensationalizing the whole atmosphere and in the end indirectly the protest may end up serving the interests of MNS as such issues are enough to yield VOTES as MNS people will label it as ‘action instigated by oppositional parties’. My suggestion is to avoid the election time for protest. Besides I know that information to local police station is an obligatory step for any protest to take place and the police also reserves the right to withhold the permission if they think that peaceful civil life may get disturbed because of such kind of protest. In a view of ensuing elections police is most likely to take this step.
Hansalji I respect your creative talent as DPMLY is very close to my heart so please just overlook the things I have said if they don’t make any sense to you.
Staying in Pune its not possible for me to participate but my sincere support for what u ll be doing in this regard
my only problem is that if we wait, the flow might just fizzle out, since the KJ issue is still fresh. The ball has rolled, now let it see it’s next step. Though we’ll need a creative way to not let it assume any political hue.
“Besides I know that information to local police station is an obligatory step for any protest to take place and the police also reserves the right to withhold the permission if they think that peaceful civil life may get disturbed because of such kind of protest.”
Hahahaha.. that is a very ironic statement. You cannot say the same when RT and his goondas supposedly “protest” and cause disturbance to “peaceful civil life”. :D
i was just thinking that if johar and bachhan cant stand against tham then who can? but hansal U R THE MAN.and ask karan johar to come with.
Sir, i totally agree with you. Double swords like Raj should be tamed.
and why aren’t other politicians doing anything about this menace. dig a well nd dump him in
great move, keep it up!
Suggestion – lots of people excluded as not located in Mumbai – do ask all to mail him get well cards – will need his postal address and can even tie up with an internet shopping site to help people do this.
I second the motion
@Hansal@Vivek
Thats a great idea. Please make his postal address available.
darkndusky
agan…this might sound filmy, but try to rope in some stars, u ll get the coverage and security automatically
Hello sir… great to see you go ahead with the initiative… though I had my view that I wanted to share before you went ahead with this … unfortunately I was awaiting some more responses on agreeing or disagreeing with regards to your plan, but I could see comments and then I had an unexpected accident and was out of action for while and you have already announced your plan… still would like to pick it up from there, why do i see the urge to do it, because there is fginally somebosy taking a step… and this needs to be in the right direction
None of this is to discourage you, but I hope this can be worked out sir once again, I request… doing a GGiri with RT is not going to work… its not meant to because its not in the right direction… an educated decent in limits and controlled vigilantism is not our solution.. it can never be…. we can achieve bits and pieces of protests like this, because ultimately, at some deeper roots, this is taking things in your own hand, and everybody would want to decide what would they like to “own”
there is a requirement for a GGiri and a ‘get a well’ soon protest… but in a different direction… as so many others have touched upon but never really elaborated…not in front of RT, but towards the concerned people who were supposed to take care of all such activities.. a WAKE UP call needs to be given to positions who were responsible to take care of the society and took up the charge to do so… the protest needs to be silent and peaceful the way you ve planned but towards Matralaya, Police Stations and Media offices… the question is not to RT.. it is to the SYSTEM which should be cleaning this up… the concern as you are already addressing is not just about movie makers.. there is a wider concern, for everybody …
As satish had put up the question is not about why RT or anybody else is doing it… they are, because they can (they are in the position) the question is why are the concerned authorities allowing these things to happen… the GET WELL SOON needs to be sent to the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary, who are being spineless and sitting down toothless.. They are our representatives, the ones we elected… if we need answers, they are the ones answerable to us… the silent protests needs to be against them, who have taken us for granted that we will anyways live with it, why act … somebody needs to make them aware that everytime there an attack on women at pubs, valentines day or a film maker dragged on the roads, it the SYSTEM which is humiliated more than these people.. its a crashing failing system which needs to answer us, that if the system cannot help us, then it better leaves… if responsibility cannot be fulfilled then it better not be taken… and this needs to be done unifiedly… this is the direction that everybody needs to look at… the question needs to be asked if ordinary citizens needs to take up to vigilantism and naxal activities, if the system feels inadequate to take care of things? oThe protest needs to be the citizen level, open to even folks from within the system who feel their hands are tied… we need to ASK the SYSTEM and not the side effects and by products of their failure….
We need to address this with the System that the citizens are not comfortable… and keep questioning them till they start moving ahead or admit that there is a need for change, and then pick it from there, its not just about RT … its about the various instances that were put up by so many folks and the answerable position goes only to the people who were took an oath to take care.. positions that swear about making sure that the citizens are taken care of…. we need to ask if the GOVERNing positions of society have given way for a New World Order and if need to take orders from them, if YES, then the system can dissolve, the NWO can be put up, and we as citizens can follow that, but then somebody needs to answer that..
Once again, the protests needs to be in the right direction… making the system aware that either we are sick of it and they need to pull up their socks, OR if they have been scared of taking actions, because it may have repel back on citizens (thats happens as well, over concern!) then to support them and let them know that we are already suffering and we are there to back them up once they take an action… they need to make the government then they prove it, and may not need to rely upon “seat sharing” but directly on citizens, who would vote for somebody who can provide them “secure society”…
questioning RT and Pink Chaddi campaigns are never going to be the solutions… the silent and peaceful questions and wake up calls needs to be to the authority and powerful positions… not even personally to the people holding the position, but the position itself…
that unfortunately I am not there physically, however yes I agree with the cards!
@PS
The SYSTEM is made up of people like you and me who are dependent on it for their “do waqt ki roti”. We are easy to scare and we will do anything not to jeopardise our “roti kapda aur makaaann” unlesssss of course we see other people supporting us.
We see a strength in our numbers, motivated by a common purpose which is toput to SHAME goondas like RT who BULLY us at every step.
These peaceful protests have to BE and keep happening , we need to be more involved in the politics around us and be the CHANGE we are SEEKING.
Ho sake to SYSTEM ko saath le lo warna Akele hi chal padho.
DnD : The SYSTEM is made up of people like you and me …
absolutely.. and thats why we need to check the System and not fall outs … just the way in a family when something goes wrong, we all address it together… but request/complain/urge/challenge the head of the family to take an action… if the protests are to be carried then it has to be in the right direction or else it will be one of the countless ones that have happened in past, which could not make any difference.. a Bully needs to be addressed by the concerned positions set for that, if that positions are failing, then we should question the position… questioning the bully doesnt help …
Flash mob is the way to go here. The only language these idiots understand is their own.Strength in numbers man, pick a color and run with it ( easy for me to say ). Gandhi was a force by himself, these guys are nothing without their cronies around them.
Gandhi finally fought against the establishment and the authorities… not against a few discriminating officers here n there… and thats why the difference in a very prolonged and slow moving protest leading to stronger results, than quick short protests against individuals..
once again hansal sir… if the brake wire has gotten loose and the car is not stopping, then there is no point trying to change the brake plates, or trying to stop the car with our own power… we will need to try to know the brake wire better…
Mr. Hansal,
Great work by great people, at least one perfect men is there in this enuch bollywood to answer the bloody goons, keep it up, prestige is upper then ant think in the world, I want to be there but as i am in Dubai, but my all strength is there with you and my all frnd support from dubai, all the best and teach them a good lesson,
Best regards
Akil
@PS
I get your point. Pertinent and definitely food for thought. Let me reiterate here that I am no political leader or activist. I have reacted emotionally to this repeated violation of our freedom by people who have no constitutional authority. I am reacting straight from the heart. That is the way I have been and will always be.
Somebody pointed out that I was doing this for free publicity. It is a sad observation. I have nothing to gain from publicity as neither do I have a film on release nor do I hope to gain producers for my next film from this effort.
yes sir… i understand you are not a ‘political’ leader or activist… but what you are right now is nothing less than a leader… I cannot recollect when was the last time there were 300 people ready to join in a walking protest… please capitalise on this momentum that this issue has picked up… from Shivaji Park and Raj’s home, if you can lead this protest peacefully in front of the Mumbai police HQ, to CM’s office, to any media office, and possibly to the Human Rights office, all of it peacefully, and with your idea of being gagged, it just shows them how we as citizens are left out feeling now… if P Chidambaram sits up and notices, thats can be far more helpful than RT noticing… this can be a start to something bigger.. I am rather feeling helpless that I am not around now…. please take care … and I wish I am not discouraging you from anything….
people who think this is for free publicity, got their 15 seconds of fame by typing these things in… let them be…
totally see your point here PS. Try to make some pertinent higher official take notice…
Even for that people have to come together.
It stuns me that there is so much Intolerence around…
As long as the Mumbai is being referred to as Bombay lovingly what the hell is the hue and cry about???
Bharat mata and Mother India are one and the same and as long as we are not defiling her it doesnt make one iota of difference.
Hey Hansal
Way to go man! — The real question is why did Karan Johar apologise in the first place. I do understand the commercial losses he would have faced otherwise and so the need to do so but Small T is just looking at reiterating his position by unleashing vicious hatred in Bombay which has already been consolidated by his uncle the Big T. This is a repetition of history in Bombay oops did I say Bombay — Yeah it is Bombay if I want it to be Bombay and no one should dictate what i want to call it
Cheers! — Please send invitations to the City Chief of bureaus to cover the event
Please invite the photographers too
Please Inform the Cops
And lastly do you think this would actually determine the outcome of the elections — Who will win in Mumbai? oops Bombay
This was a status message on FB posted by somebody I know.
“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting”
- BUDDHA
Dear Hansal,
Read todays midday and I thought I must say few lines…we have been targetted by MNS and RT during marathi bolder sign board issue. There were threts to me by MNS taporis..WE took raj to court and got a order agaist him and I stll have police protection from govt.At that time no one came to my help but I fought single handed.
Even this time when karan askd for forgiveness i realsise that once again KJ made him powerful and send scared signal to mumbaikar.Befor by Bachhans.RT and MNS looking for a soft target speciailly from film personality so they get instant publicity in election time and they know that film personality will come to him to save producers,distributors money which are put in films….and when apologise thats their victory.
I am agaist for RT tactics of using innocent mumbaikars gaining attention of marathi manoos or spreading fear..which somehow he is succeding in his mission..which is unfortunate…
First of all let me tell you that you will not get police permission during election time and secondly you will make them more powerful by doing this gandhigiri which is going to be no effect but he will get more miledge out of this.I hope that is not the point of yours.
Its better to take him to court thats where only we mumbaikar gets justice from such kind of terrorism from these kinds of goondagiri…Plese tell me how many actors/producers coming with you?I guess NONE.In Mumbai All we get is support from back not for standing together mind you..Because we beleive in peace and they into pieces of communal and language to gain Vote.
Do let me know if you need any of my help in future…
regards
viren shah
viren@roopam.com
@HM,
Agree that MNS created a stir against the use of the B-word instead of M-word. But are we sure, it’s not a publicity stunt from KJ productions. In the movie both the leads work for a Magazine called Mumbai-Beats. Why then the reference to Bombay?. Did KJ expect or want this kind of reaction.
I too saw the movie, the reference to Bombay was not Once but several times in the dialog exchange between Ranbir and Konkana.
I think KJ is equally to blame.
Vijay
@ vijay, it still doesnt mean that this should result in burning your house, my house, our city buses, bashing up taxi drivers….. does it?
@PS,
I am not justifying RT’s or MNS actions.But in “Reference to Wake UP Sid”. I am just saying that the Movie producers have to Check their product before it’s released out in the international market. When in the same dialogue “Calcutta” is referenced as “Kolkatta” then why not “Mumbai”?
Vijay
i know its not going to make much of a difference… but Bombay is one term that a lot of people, irrespective of Mumbaikars or non mumbaikars… use it affectionately… Mumbai has always been the apple of the eye kinds… thats why “b”ollywood… bombay film industry, bombay scottish is a school name… bombay dying, the word has been used in so many places that replacing this might be something that gets missed out, or is used with affection easy comfort talks… unfortunately for Kolkata or Chennai … no movie has any great reference talk about them… for that matter we still have films which talk of chennai wasis as Madraasis… any difference? nahi na..
I understand, but reading too much into city names, means Vadodara needs to always be called as vadodara and not baroda…
Sorry Mr. Mehta. Marathi Manoos dagad ahe and Ghabarat ahe. Dhanda karta yet nahi ani dusryala dhanda karu det nahi. Marathi apli guilty pleasure Ashya Goonda cha mage lapunach karto. Jyani sathe Zunka Bhakar sambhalata yet nahi, tey kay Raya kartil. Jai Jijamata Jai Maharashtra. Aaj Jijamata chi garaj ahe Shivrayachi nahi.- Translation- Sorry Mr. Mehta. Marathi manoos is like a stone and is very scared. He does not how to do bussiness and and do not let others to do bussiness-crab mentality. It is marathi manoo’s guilty pleasure to hide behind these goons. The people who cannot manage Zunka bhakar do not how to rule. Jai Jijamata Jai Maharashtra. Today we need Jijamata and not Shivaji
I appreciate your point Seema, and the way you’ve put it. Guys be there on the 10th.. See you all.
mr mehta, dont u think u should have done Ghandhigri 9yrs back?
the day u were ur face was blackened… its bit late for u but one never now wat is tomorrow.
so keep going, Good luck
may god be with you!
Dude I respect your sentiment but that’s walking into the den of the lion with a sign saying “Bite me”. We need more people like you alive and well to stand up against the fascist riffraff. Your point is made and please continue making it- but not at the risk of getting yourself killed (am serious, these guys will do anything). Take care.
A ship is safest at the port. But thats not why ships are built for. A violin string is free to be a violin string when its tied at both ends
Dear Mr. Mehta,
I appreciate your right of freedom and expression. I also appreciate for the stand you made, but let me help you understand, that your stand has no valid reason. Let’s not talk about your past. As I didn’t like ‘Ye kya ho raha hain’ so I stopped watching your films and am unaware about the saga created after ‘dil pe mat le yaar’. Nonetheless, what I would like to understand from you is, why do we call Bombay [the name which was formed by British] when legally; officially and traditionally it’s called MUMBAI? After the independence each state has been formed on the basis of language state policy [bhashawar prant rachna] so applying the regional language [state language] is mandatory. Isn’t it? If the government considers it, what is the point of pronouncing it wrongly in such a large media? Saying BOMABY instead MUMBAI is an effort of misguiding people.
Mr. Mehta, is your anger against Thackeray brothers? Please clarify.
Jihad has destroyed the world. If talking about Shivsena, how do you forget that, they are the one who built Mumabi – Pune express highway within 2 years and 55 other flyovers in just 5 years when they were in power. MNS is doing enough things for Maharashtra. Jihad has done nothing for anybody, neither for Islam nor for the world. It’s truth. How can you compare Thackeray brothers with Jihad? Jihad will not even allow you to express yourself. Do you think living in Taliban and Afghanistan would be as good as living in Mumbai? Karan Johar apologized because he made and mistake of misguiding people, Amitabh Bachhan apologized because he hurt Maharashrians. That’s fact, which cannot be ignored.
Also, I dislike the people those who talk vaguely. Most of those who have published comments here are blaming politicians. My question is why don’t you name them? Name the each shitty whom you feel is inglorious and corrupted. To start with I blame R.R.Patil for doing shitty job. I blame Vilasrao Deshmukh for being neutral just to balance the chair. I blame the Education Minister Mr.Vasant Purke who didn’t take any initiative to improve the level of education. I hate Narayan Rane for owning the property of hundred cores and did nothing. I hate Sharad Pawar who witnessed 29,000 suicides of the farmers in Maharashtra… I feel like breaking the mouth of Mr.Dilip Walse Patil and Sushilkumar Shinde [former CM] who promised to provide electricity free of cost, and now relaxing in their respected AC flats and cars without changing a situation for an inch. I want to strangle entire water and food supply ministry, who didn’t do much to control the famine of Maharashtra.
Mr. Mehta, name the filmmakers who have touched the above topics? Don’t you think presenting facts, portraying real world is part of Cinema? And what the hell you are talking about the right of expression of director. How many of your films talk reality? Reality is what you pay to your maid. Reality is what the water you waste in your toilet and don’t even bother to talk about it even when you call yourself director. Real artist or creator is who; he stays sleepless unless he reacts on the reality. Shakespeare, Arthur Miller, Harold Pinter, Mario Puzo, Picasso, Van Gogh, Kurosava, Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Francis Cappolla, Terry George, Ron Howard has proved it. Indian filmmakers are below the average level in the world because of the same Mr. Mehta. Once Karan Johar said, he goes to London to write his scripts. He even doesn’t know what India is? Forget about MUMBAI.
Let’s not blow calling Mumbai Bombay (or calling Bombay Mumbai) out of proportion, like the Thackerays. I think that more or less everyone in the country knows that the city presently called ‘Mumbai’ was once called ‘Bombay’, and some people still call it by the latter name. Seriously, if I told you someone was from Calcutta, would you – or anyone – start wondering whether the name was ‘Calcutta’ or ‘Kolkatta’? No.
Calling Mumbai Bombay is, seriously, less misguiding in an Indian movie than split personality being called schizophrenia in whatever movie.
Fact is, Thackeray – note Anglicised name – and co. are just doing this to garner publicity.
And as for the good they have done, most leaders who come into power and start persecuting a minority do tremendous good for their lands. Prime example(by Godwin’s law): Hitler.
(I’m not saying Th. and co. are as bad, just making the relevant comparison.)
Amol,
Reading is fundamental but comprehending is not. May be that’s what your problem is. Hansal doesn’t say anywhere that he has problem with the name “Mumbai” neither is he protesting it. Also, I believe he isn’t the man who coined the word “Bombay” so you might want to ask someone else why do people call the city “Bombay”. I really think that the basis for your stupidity is not liking his movies perhaps? He clearly says that he is protesting the Thackeray thugs and the good work that they are doing for people and it was not clear enough for you so you asked him to clarify for you. Man, your post is full of shit. You hate so many things and so many people that it’s about time that you log off, get off of your butt, do something and show the world how successful you can be in changing the Indian politics.
Also, after you make enough money being a politician you can make a movie about how you made that much money. It would be an ideal movie, for you, which would imbibe real world into cinema. Oh and I am sure I don’t pay reality to my maid and I don’t think reality is the water I waste in toilet. I think reality is you need help.
i think we should also consider sending get well soon cards to KJ for prostrating before RT
as the old adage goes ‘ZULM karne wala or ZULM sehne wala dono barabar ke gunah gar hein’
Good luck Hansal and be safe!
Hi ALL PFC Readers,
There is a film festival in NY that starts in nov. I believe Nov 11 – 14. Its called IAAC Film Festival. Films like slumdog, fire etc were premiered here first. I thought I’ll let film buffs know since it may turn out to be a great opportunity for networking and fun. you can find more information at http://www.iaac.us/MIAAC2009/index.htm
The blind are leading the blind.
Did this protest happen??? Any updates??
If it did it hasn’t been covered by the media anywhere. I did see a Hansal Mehta interview in Mid-day claiming that he is not organising any such march. He just wrote a blog and got a call asking him to lead a march that was being organised by some other people. Maybe we should ask the question elsewhere.
so did anything come out of this after all the talk?
The proposed march has been postponed, as it did not get the police permission, due to the election rallies being held. I think it should be held soon, now that the elections are over.
People can check out the FB group for this event, if they need further updates.
Folks,
Check the following link for the controversial dialogue that made Hanslal Mehta go through all the humiliation 9 years ago –
http://www.indiarightsonline.com/Sabrang/relipolcom10.nsf/5e7647d942f529c9e5256c3100376e2e/bef62890d56d1c50e5256cce0029e2c9/$FILE/aab01809.pdf