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At the finish line

Firebrand filmstar-turned-social worker-turned-politician Shabana Azmi said film-makers should target the film censorship guidelines for problems faced by them rather than criticise the Central Board Of Film Certification chairperson, Asha Parekh.

Reacting strongly to personal attacks, Shabana, at a press meet in New Delhi, said it was 'singularly unfair to pin the entire blame on Asha Parekh.' She said film-makers should mobilise support for changing the guidelines if they were so aggrieved. Asked if she would raise a voice about this in Parliament, she said that it was important for the film industry to speak in one voice before anyone can take any intiative in this regard.

The actress was speaking at a press meet organised by the Indian Women's Press Corps, which had organised the premiere of the film Godmother in the capital this evening. Others present at the meet were Shabana's lyricist-husband Javed Akhtar, director Vinay Shukla, actor Milind Gunaji, music director Vishal Bhardwaj and executive producer Rajat Sengupta of Gramco Films. The film is being released commercially on September 3.

Shabana, Javed, Vinay and Milind strongly defended the violence in the film -- which won as many as six national awards -- and said that it was necessary to the theme. Both Javed and Milind said if the depiction of violence creates revulsion, then it has achieved its objective.

Vinay said it was important to see whether the violence projected in a film encouraged or discouraged violence. Javed said that no research had ever linked the psyche of the criminals in various jails in the country to the violence shown in films. If anything, films only depicted what was happening in society. Shabana said that violence should be shown judiciously and not casually or unnecessarily.

In reply to a question, Shabana said Santokhben Jadeja, who had initially alleged that the film was based on her life, was convinced on seeing the film that this was not true. However, Shabana admitted that one scene was removed on the plea of Santokhben, who had filed a court case against the film-maker, but refused to divulge the details of the scene. She said every problem could be sorted out through dialogue and Santokhben's protests were based on reports fed to her by others.

Vinay said though he had initially thought of the film after reading a short story, the story of Santokhben did inspire him to an extent and make him shift the scene outside Bombay, where most underworld films are based.

Shabana said a large number of films made in the past few years had shown a perceptible change in the portrayal of women. She said that while empowerment could be misused by the female as had been seen in real life as well, such cases were few.

Both Shabana and Vinay said the central character, Rambhi, was shown as very feminine in many ways, like when she solves the water problem of the villagers, keeps her office clean and the way she reacts when her son is affected by her lifestyle. Shabana said she had tried to bring in her own sensibilities as a woman to the character she portrayed.

While emphasising that it was only in the 24th year of her career that a film starring her -- Deepa Mehta's Fire -- had run into controvesy, she said controversy arose whenever anyone tried something new. Such actions were bound to rattle some bones and create controversies, she said, but admired the fact that the CBFC had passed that film with an A certificate and, on re-examination, stuck to its stand.

Vinay said Godmother had originally not been meant as a film about empowerment, but only as the story of how a woman would react to certain situations in her life. The central character is passive at first, but then starts reacting to circumstances around her. Shabana said the film was not about tensions between two communities but about how certain people tended to create blocks within communities.

Javed denied that only women could be used as puppets, and said that even men had to face that problem. But 'power has its own rules' and the person in power will begin exercising his independence at some time.

He said it was a strange paradox that artistes always gave their best when they worked under repression. Therefore there was no reason to despair at the present situation and the artiste community should not get demoralised.

When asked if she expected Godmother to become a success like Fire because of the controversy it had created, Shabana said a piece of art should be judged on its own merit and not because of the controversy it generates.

Milind said he was drawn to the character he portrays because of its strength and because the woman draws her strength from him. Vishal Bhardwaj admitted that he had studied the folk music of Gujarat for this film, but had then blended it with Western classical music.

UNI