Documentary on Taj Mahal has no takers in India: Bajaj

Panaji: Canadian Filmmaker Jay Bajaj said there are no takers in India for his documentary ‘The Man Who Saved Taj Mahal’, which highlights contribution of environmental activist-cum-lawyer M C Mehta and his fight to save the monument from environmental degradation.

"There are no takers for the documentary in India. I tried to selling the film locally," Bajaj told reporters at the sidelines of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2010. He said that the channels like National Geographic and Discovery have also turned down his request to air the documentary. The film is being screened in the Short Film Centre at IFFI. The documentary is a joint Indo-Canadian production highlighting the work of Mehta and his one man struggle to save the monument from pollution. "There will be limited audience for this documentary in North America as national channels there wants localized documentaries," the filmmaker said. Bajaj said that he will be screening the 56-minute-long documentary in Delhi in coming February so that the policy makers and bureaucrats should know the truth behind Taj Mahal. "I would like to invite federal politicians to come for the screening of the documentary," he commented. "Mathura Refinery and 320 other industries around this monument are contributing in for the degradation," he said, narrating how he was escorted out of the Mathura Refinery by police when he went to have version of the management during shooting of the documentary. The documentary is in seven chapters and speaks of the cases fought by M C Mehta making Central Government work to protect the environment around Taj Mahal. "Taj Mahal is one of the biggest cases fought by him and hence the documentary is titled after it," Bajaj explained. PTI