Nihalani is hurting Modi

The French philosopher Voltaire once said, “Lord, protect me from my friends; I can take care of my enemies.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces a similar predicament. His admirers, especially the bhaktas (worshippers), have become a big headache not only for the nation but also Modi. Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Chairman Pahlaj Nihalani is one such bhakta the Prime Minister should be wary of.

As THC reported, Kamal Swaroop’s Dance of Democracy-Battle for Banaras is likely to be cleared by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal. Last year the documentary was summarily rejected by the CBFC. The documentary was based on the electoral fight between Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal in May 2014. Even if the appellate authority dismisses the appeal, the issue will be discussed in the media, as it was when more-loyal-than-the-king Nihalani had torpedoed it.

The reason that he decided to do so was simply preposterous. Nihalani was quoted in The Indian Express as saying: “My officers told me that it’s a political satire. It speaks against all politicians and is pro-Kejriwal in the way it has been shot.” Further, he said, the language in the film was “inflammatory.”

There are a large number of movies which show politicians in a bad light. Should they be banned? Arnab Goswami trashes our netas every other day. Should he be thrown behind bars? Are we living in some sort of police state where everybody associated with government should be mandatorily mentioned with respect? Well, bootlickers may want this to happen, but normal citizens of the Indian Republic would certainly find all this sickening.

Should all language be sanskari, a Sanskrit adjective denoting graceful behavior but has been smeared by the cretins like Nihalani?

Further, who on earth is Nihalani—himself a third-rate filmmaker and first-rate sycophant—to judge the content or tilt of a creative work? And even if the documentary is pro-Kejriwal and, by implication anti-Modi, is it a crime to produce such a work of art?

One of my friends who has seen Dance of Democracy-Battle for Banaras tells me that it is not a terrific film. It is too long and not very interesting. According to him, without the publicity that it has got because of the lunacy of Nihalani, the documentary film would have gone unnoticed. The Modibhakta has ensured that the Prime Minister gets lampooned because of this episode.