(The Times of India
5 Feb, 2007)
Gujarat will see Parzania if Bajrangi says OK!
Radha Sharma
[ 3 Feb, 2007 2105hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
AHMEDABAD: It is left to one person to decide whether Gujarat gets to see 'Parzania', the film based on the 2002 riots, which has hit a roadblock in the state after its smooth release in the rest of the country 10 days back.
Babubhai Patel, who goes by the name Babu Bajrangi because of his affiliation with the saffron outfit, is the one the Gujarat Multiplex Owner's Association would like to invite at a special screening to be held early next week before they take a decision on whether to release it in cinema halls and multiplexes.
Sources said film-maker Rahul Dholakia was aghast when he was told by association president Manubhai Patel that a go-ahead from Bajrangi was necessary if the cinema halls have to protect themselves from mob attacks.
The special screening was meant only for exhibitors interested in the film but it appears that a green signal from Bajrangi, who has threatened to use force to prevent the screening of the film, is of critical importance here.
When contacted, Bajrangi, told TOI "I got a call from the theatre owners on Friday asking me to remain present at a special screening.
They told me that we will see the film together and then decide if it was fit for release in Gujarat.
"Dholakia, who is expected to arrive here from Mumbai with prints of the film on Monday, has so far refused to allow the presence of Bajrangi during the special screening and has instead told the association to invite Ahmedabad police commissioner J Mahapatra, if they perceived a law and order problem. Whether Mahapatra takes the bait or not is unclear because even his boss, the present director general of police PC Pande,who was the Ahmedabad police commissioner in 2002, has been portrayed in a poor light in the film, based on the real-life story of a Parsi couple whose son went missing after the massacre in Gulbarg Society.