Freedom of thought and speech are granted to every Indian by the constitution. And thus, when adman, actor, news TV pundit and self proclaimed know-all of our age (a social networking page for one of his books, describes him so) decided to make his feelings known about Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani in particular and the need for good scriptwriters in the Hindi cinema circuit at large, we did not find anything odd in it.
Except for when we saw the video that was uploaded on a public forum. While talking about the need to uphold smart stories, Suhel pointed fingers at Subhash Ghai and Mahesh Bhatt, calling them the titans of the industry, and accused them of practicing what is more commonly known as the 'casting couch'.
In the clip posted on May 16, Suhel is seen talking about a film that he has recently watched - Kahaani. In his two-minutes of screen time, Seth says, "My appeal to all the Mahesh Bhatts and Subhash Ghais and all the titans would be to get off your casting couch - you've been there, done her - and start investing in people who can write good scripts."
Though Suhel, who is apparently in London, remained unavailable for comment, Bhatt told us, "First of all, Suhel Seth knows me too well and I don't believe that he could have made the statements. But if what you say is true, then like a Christian spirit, I would say, 'Forgive my Lord for they do not know what they say and do.' I have been in this business for 38 years. And now, it is for those who have worked with me, to stand up and defend me."
Subhash Ghai too, chose to be magnanimous. When contacted, the filmmaker said, "Every citizen has a right to say anything about any person. In this country, one can say anything from worshipping a person, admiring a person to even firing a person. It is your own mind that speaks. God bless Suhel Seth. We have dedicated our entire life to making movies. Our life has been movies. We feel bad when someone abuses our hard work in this manner."
The short visual piece titled Getting Real With Suhel is produced by Alternation. And though it is still unclear as to who exactly is behind the production, it is evident that the makers are gearing up to make a rather controversial splash in the industry, albeit via the Internet.
Copyright 2008 Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. . All rights reserved.
This is the video:
[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shs8bD29JcA[/YOUTUBE]
Hindi TV Shows
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