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| No Shanti for SEK and Farah Khan By Webmaster, 18 August, 2008 |
 What yesteryear star Manoj Kumar has done lately to Shah Rukh Khan and Farah Khan has established a new trend in Bollywood.Grieved by the alleged insult directed at him in Om Shanti Om, Kumar has finally filed a legal suit of cheating and defamation against producer SRK, wife Gauri Khan and director Farah Khan. A few scenes in the movie take potshots at Kumar and he has filed the case as the filmmakers have failed to delete the scenes from the movie. Interestingly, Kumar has demanded only Re 1 as damages. While the matter is still in court, how far will it go is a question that needs to be debated. At a time when Bollywood is seeing "camps" and "forces" acting against each other like never before, this lawsuit will trigger off a new round of debate. "Camps exist in Bollywood, but this issue is an independent one. I hope it does not end up dividing Bollywood," feels actor Aseem Merchant when we prod him on the subject. Aseem has a film with Salman Khan in the pipeline. "It is good shooting with Salman. I have never faced a problem with him," he says about the mercurial Khan who himself is known for his short temper. While Bollywood is trying to play down the subject as much as possible, undercurrents are definitely there, with some of them feeling for Manoj Kumar. "Definitely, mockery was made of him even if it was unintentional. The filmmakers should have deleted the scenes. A senior actor like Kumar has every right to get hurt with what happened," says a leading singer in the industry. Taking comedy in the right spirit is an art that still needs to be developed in India. Says stand up international comedian Jason Gravney, "I have done a few shows in India and I will have to say that people still have to learn taking it in the right spirit. Sometimes, even during the show, you might take a light potshot at somebody and he might not like it." Lawyer Ridhesh Sahni feels that it is the right of anybody to express his displeasure and file a suit if he feels so. "Let the law decide what is right and what is wrong," he says. However, some in the industry feel that the matter has been taken forward unnecessarily. "It could have been settled off the court easily. Manoj Kumar should have given SRK some more time. Anyway, it was just in light spirit," says a friend of SRK, who prefers not being named. Can it establish a new trend in Bollywood? Well, this is what sociologist Rajendra Deshmukh has to say: "It definitely will give a new idea to stars, who have traditionally refrained from such things. But, I don't see it happening too much because it will end up dividing the industry." In an industry plagued by one controversy after another, this one is stretching it one too far. Re 1 could well start the first chapter of a new script in Bollywood! |
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