NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Water will not flow back to Varanasi

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

Never ever will director Deepa Mehta attempt to shoot in Varanasi.

"I want to do a film there. But I will not shoot in Varanasi again. The experience has been heart-breaking. I have gone through something which I can never forget," the director of the controversial film Water said Wednesday.

The people of Varanasi, added Shabana Azmi, the star of Water, wanted the film shot there. But Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader V P Singhal's entry saw to it that the unit had to pack up.

"It seems the writ of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee [who intervened on Mehta's behalf] does not run in Uttar Pradesh. It is V P Singhal's writ that runs there. After Singhal announced that the film unit would not be allowed to shoot at any cost, the vacillating chief minister decided to express his helplessness. District Magistrate Alok Kumar immediately asked us to leave the place for 14 days," said Mehta and Azmi.

Asked whether she would accept Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh's invitation to shoot the film in Bhopal, Mehta indicated that she hasn't yet made up her mind.

"I have not spoken to him. I have several other offers and I am considering them all," she said.

Has West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu too invited her? "Not till now," she clarified.

Mehta claimed that the trouble started after she refused to give the film's distributing rights to a man called Manjul Rakesh.

"He who had been promising all help suddenly turned around and threatened that he would ensure that the film is not shot in Varanasi. After that the whole scene changed. Protests snowballed into a major agitation, which was later joined by VHP leader Singhal," she said.

She denied that the film script ran down the culture of Kashi [Varanasi] in anyway. "There is nothing in the film which would offend the sentiments of the people. I had discussed the entire script with the Kanshi mahant [temple priest] and some other scholars of Kanshi. They all agreed that there was nothing offensive in the film.

"In fact the mahant expressed regrets on behalf of the people of Kashi and said that there should be no problem in shooting now on. But still we continued to be harassed," she said.

Mehta's take of the total monetary loss the producer has suffered is around US $ 650,000.

"I am waiting for Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Arun Jaitley to return from London tonight. I would have to go to him to get 'Varanasi' deleted from the clearance letter. It has to be replaced with wherever I decide to shoot because as of now I have permission only to shoot in Varanasi," a dejected Mehta said.

Asked why she always chose controversial topics for her films, Mehta said she wasn't one who liked to thrive on publicity.

"I lost money in Fire because of the controversy. I have lost heavily now. But I must say that my producer is a wonderful person and he is solidly behind me and wants me to complete the film," she said.

"I had not bargained for something like this. I may be a good, bad or indifferent producer/director but I should be allowed to make my film," she added.

Mehta blamed the district administration for the situation getting out of hand. "While we were shooting policemen came and told us to pack up as one man had tried to commit suicide in protest," she said. "Later on we learnt that the man had written a letter to the district magistrate and told him about his intention to commit suicide the next day. But the district administration did not take any action. The man tried to commit suicide by jumping into a river. I suspect the administration was hand in glove with the agitators."

Film actor Akshay Kumar said the whole industry was behind Mehta. "Shatrugun Sinha, Pehalaj Nehlani, Nasiruddin Shah, Shah Rukh Khan and many other film personalities have issued statements supporting the cause. I am a proud Hindu and I would never ever do anything which would lower the Hindu religion. I have gone through the script and I found nothing that would lower the image of the Hindu religion or India as a whole," he said.

When would Mehta start shooting? And where?

"I have gone through a traumatic experience and I need to think about the possibility of shooting the film elsewhere. My producer is still in Varanasi packing up. I would discuss with him when he comes to Delhi. I need sometime to think about it," she said.

Answering a question Azmi said that much has been made out of the dialogue about a prostitute and widow.

There is a report from Bhopal which quotes a Bajrang Dal leader as saying that they would not allow the shooting in that state?

"I have not seen the report. I will cross the bridge when I come to it. But if that happens then it would be really very sad," she said.

Azmi said that she has been taken aback by the casual attitude of the central government, which didn't act despite a directive from the prime minister that the UP administration should ensure the shoot goes on peacefully.

FIRE OVER WATER
The complete coverage

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report