Besides Japan, the last place that any person would want to be seen at the moment is war-torn Iraq. But Mahesh Bhatt who's producing a play on the Iraqi journalist Muntazer-al-Zayedi's shoe-throwing incident, is heading to Iraq with his director Arvind Gaur and actor Imran Zahid at the earliest, this week if possible.
Bhatt and his associates' mission? To meet Muntazer, get a feel of the blood-soaked land and make a documentary on the civil war in Iraq before, the play goes on stage next month.
On being informed of Bhatt and Imran's plans for an early Iraqi visit, Muntazer hurriedly emailed, "Hello my dear friend (sic.) Imran! I hope you are doing good! First of all I like (sic.) to thank you about your feeling. It is very difficult situation in Iraq now! It will be big problem to you if you are coming to Iraq. We can meet each other when I will be in India."
Unheedful of Muntazer's warning, Mahesh and Imran are currently persuading the Minister Of External Affairs to issue visas, since there is no Indian ambassador in Iraq at the moment. The trio leaves for Iraq the minute the visas are granted. Not the easiest of things to acquire at the moment. But Mahesh Bhatt has put in a request at the highest level in the concerned Ministry.
Says Bhatt, "Imran Zahid is working out the formalities of our visit with the Ministry Of External Affairs. We don't have an embassy in Iraq at the moment. But we'll get to Iraq, that for sure!"
But why risk lives for the sake of a play? Says Mahesh, "It isn't just about the play. You can't talk about chilly pepper without tasting its sharp flavour. I want my lead actor and my director to get a real taste of that blood-soaked land. As for Iraq being unsafe, people told me Kashmir, Nagaland, Pakistan and Bastar are unsafe. The warnings did not stop me from visiting these places."
Bhatt and Gaur will shoot a documentary in Iraq with Imran Zahid which will be screened before the play.
Explains Mahesh Bhatt, "It is very important for Imran to touch and to know the man Muntazer and the ambience that bred his protest against George Bush before he plays the character in the play."
On hearing of Mahesh Bhatt and his actor and director's determination to visit Iraq, Muntazer wrote to Imran Zahid, "My dear friend (sic) you are most welcome whenever you want. But I'm afraid about (sic) you and the director. In Iraq as you know the demonstration and political situation is (sic.) too bad."
Risking lives for the sake of art is okay. But isn't this going too far, literally? "The real courage is the courage to stand alone," says Mahesh Bhatt.
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