‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ asked to remove bulls’ scenes

Nevada: Eminent religious statesman Rajan Zed has urged the makers of upcoming Bollywood blockbuster ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ to not lionize cruelty to bulls.

According to reports, some scenes were shot in Pamplona (Spain) during "Running of the Bulls" (encierro) for being included in this film. Cruelty to helpless animals should not be glorified in a mainstream feature film like ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ meant for viewing by families, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, said. Rajan Zed asked makers of this film to remove scenes depicting "Running of the Bulls" in its final version as torturing of bulls and making them suffer just for the entertainment of humans was not acceptable. Reports suggest that Pamplona festival (July 07-14) hosts the most famous "Running of the Bulls" whose purpose is to transport the bulls from corrals to the bullring where they would be later killed. Panicked running bulls are poked and taunted resulting in lacerations and broken bones. Then men on horses pierce the bulls with banderillas until they become dizzy suffering huge pain. About 200-300 people are hurt each year during the Run and since 1910, 15 people have died. Zed has labeled practices of bull-running and bull-fighting as barbaric, inhumane, horrendous, and cruel. "Non-violence is a greatest virtue. We have long been out of the caves. Let us get rid of these outdated traditions. World will be a better place without these blood-sports", Zed adds. Meanwhile, Spanish-American actress Charo, 69, reportedly in a letter to film`s director Zoya Akhtar, has also called for pulling "Running of the Bulls" scene from the film. "But deriving any pleasure from abusing bulls is something we should all be ashamed of and certainly nothing that should be promoted in a feature film", she wrote. ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’, a drama film directed by Zoya Akhtar (‘Lucky by Chance’) and produced by Sunitha Ram-Farhan Akhtar-Ritesh Sidhwani, stars Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Kalki Koechlin, and Naseeruddin Shah. Proposed to be released in April 2011, this Excel Entertainment (‘Dil Chahta Hai’) movie has Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy`s music, Carlos Catalán`s cinematography, Javed Akhtar`s lyrics, and was shot in Spain (Barcelona, Pamplona, Bunyol, and Andalucia) and India (Mumbai). ANI