Author: Vickey Lalwani
Publication: Mid day
Date: August 28, 2007
URL: http://www.mid-day.com/hitlist/2007/august/163085.htm
Pooja Bhatt, whose film releases this week,
says that it is we who are to be blamed for the terrorism in our country,
not Pakistan
Pooja Bhatt's Dhokha releases six days after
the twin blasts at Hyderabad. Dhokha makes a bold statement that India has
treated the minorities, especially the Muslims, unfairly and this is one of
the reasons why terrorism poses a grave threat to our lives everyday.
Mahesh Bhatt's firebrand daughter says that
she is justified in taking this stand and is not worried that the film might
spark off a national controversy. On Wednesday, Pooja flew down to meet Delhi
Chief Minsiter Shiela Dixit. "I want my film Dhokha to be made tax-free,"
she told Dixit.
In an exclusive chat with this writer who
viewed the film at a special screening last week, Pooja defends her project.
Why do you want Dhokha to be tax-free?
I want Muslims, Dalits and Assamese to come
see my film. I'm not interested in bouquets. I want to go and see the film
in a cinema hall with the young generation from the minorities who stand up
and say I have said what they feel.
The message of the film seems to be that India treated Muslims unfairly. Isn't
that a tough stand to take?
If you've seen my previous films like Tamanna
and Zakhm, you'll know this is not the first time I'm taking a stand. I believe
in the film and am not scared to answer questions. I'd have been frightened
if I had spent my life only making popcorn flicks or regressive TV serials.
Why does the film stay away from showing Pakistan
needling in India's affairs?
Was Pakistan responsible for the Gujarat riots?
Has Narendra Modi come from Pakistan? Did the Best Bakery case happen due
to Pakistan? Read the Srikrishna Comm-ission report and you will know what
I am talking. For saying this, Dhokha might get banned in Gujarat. But haven't
I said the truth?
You send out the message through your protagon-ist-
Muzammil Ibrahim. Did you pick Muzammil because he is a Muslim?
See, I wanted someone who would look Muslim
and be natural in performing the mosque prayers. The character had to look
believable.
You have not talked about the minority in India in general. You chose to tell
your story through only a Muslim?
Today, what is the divide? Isn't it Islam
versus the rest of the world? The world changed after 9/11. Thereafter, Muslims
were looked upon differently. It's almost as if every Muslim is related to
Osama Bin Laden. Yes, I'm telling the story of Dhokha through a Muslim, but
isn't the Muslim minority the largest minority in our country? (pauses).
Go on…
Anupam Kher (who plays Tulip's father) has
been taken from the Khwaja Yunus case. Nobody knows this but Yunus' father
landed up at my father's doorstep and said he needed my dad's help him in
getting his son's dead body so that he could perform the last rites.
Hello! We like to believe that Pakistan is
a bunch of fundamentalists who only want to see India's doom, but this is
far from the truth. Pakistan is smart enough to understand that if India is
doomed, Pakistan will cease to exist.
How can you say this?
I've been to Pakistan four times and hence
I know. Let me ask you a question.
Say it
Assuming Osama was responsible for 9/11, (discounting
the theory doing the rounds that the Americans themselves did it) what's the
difference between him and Bush who bombed Iraq for no reason? The world is
being destroyed by jerks sitting in offices. Let's wake up to that.
The finest film on terrorism till date?
Unarguably, Santosh Sivan's Terrorist starring
Ayesha Dharker.
