SLB slap followup: Politician announces award, Media cries foul

Bhopal: A ruling BJP leader here on Sunday announced a reward of Rs 10,000 per slap with a shoe on filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali for trying to distort history in his movie under production, Padmavati.

Akhilesh Khandelwal, chairman of Hosangabad municipal corporation in Madhya Pradesh, announced the bounty on his Facebook wall, which has got 178 likes within a few hours of posting.

The saffron youth leader has over 10,000 Facebook followers. He later told the media here that he has no regret for announcing a reward for slapping the Bollywood director with a show.

"They (such film personalities) are trying to distort our history to show us in poor light in public. We can no more remain silent. We consider it our responsibility to rein in such forces", he said.

Opposition Congress here took strong exception to the BJP leader's "provocative" post, demanding action against him for attempting to instigate an attack. "The saffron leaders have taken up the role of moral police," a Congress spokesman here said.

SLB: Why it's time to take action, writes Sarita A Tanwar

The video of Sanjay Leela Bhansali being attacked was disturbing for many reasons. It would perhaps have been less distressing to see some other director (Yes, I have some names in my head) being bullied like this. More so, because some of them might have punched the bullies and even cracked a skull or two. SLB stands for love, music, beauty, and romance. His world is soft and sensitive. He lives in a fairytale universe, on and offscreen. A recluse, he hardly parties, he never networks. He lives in the world of poetry and opera and is someone who probably has no idea how to deal with this sort of goondaism.

While most of us have it in us to deal with whatever googlies life throws at us, I am afraid that SLB doesn't. That he will be too affected by this unpleasantness and that the scars on the inside might never heal. We can't allow our artistes to be treated like this. While it is great to see the whole industry in support on Twitter, unfortunately, that won't make any difference. They need to do something constructive. Come out on the roads, do a dharna or be a silent march, sit in protest outside the homes and offices of powers that be... Or even go on a strike. In short, do something that is on every news channel for a few days, and captures the attention of the entire nation. Make some non-Twitter noise, because that might bring us closer to a solution. For decades, the film industry has been a soft target and it will continue to be that till the actors and makers come together and do something constructive about it.

Strangely, the Producers' Guild is silent on this. They brought everyone to the table to combat piracy; is this any less serious? One of their own has been attacked and in response, there is silence. Itna sannaata kyun hai, bhai? It even took the lead cast of Padmavati over 48 hours to react to the attack on their director. Because that's the world we live in. They were probably advised not to speak. When they were allowed to speak, they were most definitely advised to choose each word carefully. Why? Isn't it time to push back? Each of them has an army of millions of followers. That's power. Use it to make a difference. Not just to post selfies and dog videos.

I don't have all the facts on why SLB refused to file a police complaint, but that's setting a wrong precedent. They got away with creating trouble for Ashutosh Gowariker's film Jodhaa Akbar and flinging chappals and bottles at Ekta Kapoor during Jaipur Literary Festival, a few years ago, for her TV show Jodha Akbar. Now this. This will continue. And it will get worse. We are making movies of a blind man going on a rampage when the system fails him. Let's give the system the opportunity to do justice. And failing that, take action themselves.

http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-slb-why-it-s-time-to-take-action-writes-sarita-a-tanwar-2299256