Filmmakers to practice ‘Gandhigiri’ in front of Raj Thackeray’s house

Spicezee Bureau

Mumbai: Raj Thackeray will be at the receiving end of filmmakers’ ‘Gandhigiri’ this Saturday. The MNS president has time and again threatened filmmakers over ‘objectionable’ language or sequence in their films. Highly irked by Raj Thackeray’s irrational behaviour, Filmmaker Hansal Mehta has decided to lead a 300-strong protest march to the politician’s Dadar home. Most recently, Karan Johar was threatened with dire consequences over the use of ‘Bombay’ instead of ‘Mumbai’ in ‘Wake Up Sid’. KJo had to apologise for it and he also issued a disclaimer at the start of the movie, which says that the `makers of the film have no intention to hurt the sentiments of any group`... so on and so forth. After the incident, Hansal Mehta wrote a piece on a blog website passionforcinema.com, titled ‘Get well soon’. "I spent last night reliving the horror of nine years ago. I spent a sleepless night. I was tormented by visions of my cowardice. I awoke to find my being filled with anger. One more filmmaker bites the dust. They persecuted me. I apologised. They harassed the Bachchans. They apologised. They threatened Karan Johar. He apologised." His blog got overwhelming response. Encouraged, Mehta wants to protest strongly. "I want to tackle this problem the way Sanjay Dutt did in ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’. Over 300 people have joined the group and many have agreed to walk with me. It will be a peaceful procession. It will be a symbolic gesture and I want to keep it at that. But finally, even if I am the only man walking up to Raj`s house on Saturday, I will still do it,” he said. Hansal added, "How can you live in a democracy like India and not feel free? That is the worst kind of violation of your rights." Nine years ago after the release of Mehta’s ‘Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar’, he was subjected to humiliation by the moral police of some wing of the Shiv Sena, headed by Raj Thackeray. Lage Raho Hansal Mehta!