Emotions run high in Gujurat over Fanaa's screening

MUMBAI

June 7, 2006

Gujuratis are said to be a very passionate race. And the recent furore over
the stalling of Fanaa's screening in Gujurat reflects precisely this
statement. Most of the locals seem to agree with the stand that the Bhartiya
Janata Party has taken of not permitting theatres to screen the movie. DQWeek
spoke to a few channel partners in the state to get an idea about whether they
agree with this stand and why.

Amit Shah of AB Desh Infotech in Vadodara was very vociferous in denouncing
Aamir Khan's statement. “Khan is simply encashing on his popularity to rake
an issue he has no idea about. The work on the dam was going on, but because of
his interference it has now come main stage,” he fumed.

Amit Shah also noted that if Khan was so keen on helping the people who were
affected by the building of the dam, he should have sought out the authorities
and approached them directly, rather than using the media to highlight an issue,
which has been so sensitive for so long. This is why he has decided not to watch
the movie, Fanaa.

Mitul Shah of Ideas Infotech at Rajkot too has decided to boycott the movie.
He would not even watch the movie on a VCD if he were offered a chance to do so.
While Mitul has no issues with the movie per se, he feels that staying away from
the theatres is a good way of showing his objection to Khan's 'irresponsible'
statements.

“My biggest complaint is that Aamir Khan made all these statements sitting
besides Medha Patkar, who has been stalling the dam's construction for so
long. Had he individually made the demands, I would have supported him. But
Patkar has stopped a project, which will benefit a major section of Gujurat,
merely to help a few people in Narmada,” he claimed.

Even dealers in Vapi are unhappy with Khan's stand on the Narmada issue.
Hemin Vapiwala of Netcom in the city supports the state's Chief Minister's
Narendra Modi urges to boycott the movie. “Aamir Khan is an individual who is
leveraging on his popularity and is commenting on an issue which does not have
any direct bearing on him. If he could not stay faithful to his wife, how can be
make statements about being faithful to the country.

However, there are others in the state who are not as affected about the
issue. Hetal Dalvadi of Compu Sales in Anand is one of them. Though he is not
very keen to catch the movie, probably because he does not want to go against
the current tide of ire against Khan, he is not particular against the idea
either. “Khan is a good actor and I would not mind watching the movie. But I
will not purposely seek this movie out in a theatre and watch it, just to make a
statement on the Narmada issue,” he said.

For those unaware about this imbroglio, Bollywood actor Aamir Khan had
visited the site of the Narmada dam and had demanded that the state government
make arrangement for the people who had to be relocated by the construction. He
also supported Medha Patkar who has been against the construction of the dam and
has been asking for rehabilitation of the dislocated locals. His statements
brought back into the glare an issue, which has been contentious for several
years now.

Following Khan's statements on leading media channels, the BJP demanded
that he apologize to the state government, which he refused to do. The party
then asked for the banning of his recently released movie, Fanaa.