Author: Vijendra Sawhney
Publication: The Times of India
Date: March 11, 2005
For years now, the media has been
glorifying film-maker Mahesh Bhatt as a liberal, secular intellectual.
After reading his views on the controversy involving Pakistani actress
Meera (who's got into trouble with the Pak authorities and hardliners for
doing a kissing scene in Bhatt's 'Nazar'), I feel compelled to write this
letter.
Bhatt has never had any qualms about
depicting nudity and kissing in his movies and has gone to town saying
there should be no censorship of any kind in cinema. But a few days ago,
he declared, "We should be sensitive to the ethos of Pakistan. Anything
that upsets their sensibilities I wouldn't be a party to." Who decides
what the ethos of Pakistan is? Is showing nudity part of the Indian ethos?
Bhatt appears to be just as duplicitous
on the issue of terrorism. While he refused to attend the 51st National
Prayer Breakfast meeting with George Bush in 2003, saying that "participating
in such sessions is to condone Bush's terrorism of demonic proportions
around the globe", he has no qualms about having lunch with Gen Pervez
Musharraf, the architect of Kargil.
