Prakash Jha moves Supreme Court over ‘Aarakshan’ ban

Spicezee Bureau

Mumbai: Just a day after facing bans in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, ‘Aarakhan’ producers Prakash Jha and Firoz A Nadiawala have moved the Supreme Court to lift ban on the controversial film. Apparently, UP, Punjab and Andhra have banned ‘Aarakshan’ stating that some dialogues in the film are provocative and could incite violence. According to reports, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has also demanded that the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar should also ban the release of the film. Yesterday, Amitabh Bachchan, who plays a vital role in the movie, defended the film against the government’s allegations that ‘Aarakshan’ is anti-Dalit film as he said, “It`s our duty to obey the government. We are all helpless; we are not into politics, we make movies. We will obey whatever request the government has. Democracy gives any government the right to follow the laws that are laid out in the Constitution. We only want to request you to be a bit patient. The film has been released in Maharashtra and will be [released] elsewhere. After that, you can question us.” “If that film is being certified and somebody has taken objection to that certification and filed in the High Court and if High Court has also dismissed that, then we have the right to project this film. However if there are certain factions that they are unhappy with it, we are studying what is the unhappiness about and hopefully we will get over it,” said Amitabh. However, Big B also added that the cast and crew won’t succumb to the pressure tactics adopted by various political outfits. “Whatever they are doing is also within the law. Every state has a provision where they can block or ban a film, not really ban it and they can stop it for two months. But even after two months we are not obliged to carry out the correction or possibilities of correction that they stipulate. It will still be released according to the diktats of the statutory body which is the censor board.” Meanwhile, Prakash Jha sounded optimistic as he added, “This film will be released everywhere and will be before the people; people will understand the meaning of the film. Right now everyone has their doubts without watching or understanding the movie. So don`t worry, It might take some time, but the film will get released everywhere.” ‘Aarakshan’ releases nationwide on 12th August 2011.