Prakash Jha’s special gift for Vasundhara Raje and 70 MLAs

By Subhash K. Jha -

June 23, 2010 - 12:00 AM IST

Prakash Jha’s special gift for Vasundhara Raje and 70 MLAs

For those 70 MLAs and Vasundhara Raje who have got themselves into serious trouble for watching a pirated DVD of Prakash Jha's Raajneeti in a luxury hotel in Rajasthan on Tuesday, Jha has a special gift coming up.

He will gift a legitimate DVD of the film to each of the MLAs when the DVD is officially released in two weeks' time.

Prakash Jha’s special gift for Vasundhara Raje and 70 MLAs

"I hope they would finally see the difference between the grainy bootleg version of the film that they allegedly saw in Jaipur and a legally manufactured DVD of Raajneeti," says Jha a tad caustically.

However, the sizzling love-making scene between Arjun Rampal and Shruti Seth would be deleted from the DVD, since Prakash doesn't want our politicians to get "unnecessarily worked-up when there's so much to be done in building the nation."

On Tuesday, June 15, over 70 MLAs of the BJP allegedly watched the film on a spurious DVD projected on to a large screen.

Says the director, "Apparently, these MLAs couldn't tell the difference between a pirated DVD and legitimate DVD. It's a pity a politician of Vasundhara Raje's stature couldn't tell the difference between being on the right or wrong side of the law."

Jha says he would've happily arranged a special legitimate screening of Raajneeti for the MLAs.

Apparently, an FIR has been filed against the MLAs. But Prakash doesn't believe the law can be effective in a case of viewing a pirated DVD. "At the most, the police will visit the hotel where the MLAs allegedly viewed the DVD. There will be no evidence of their wrongdoing. The matter will end there."

But the director known for his socio-political exposes won't allow the matter to due down. Prakash Jha has more constructive plans for exposing the nexus between piracy and politics. In a political thriller that he plans, he intends to incorporate a sequence showing politicians enjoying the clandestine screening of a film. To add to the irony, the film that these politicians would be watching is Raajneeti.

Says our Jha, "It is very important for politicians to set the right example, especially the ones who are taken seriously like Mrs Vasundhara Raje. And we need to create an awareness of political responsibilities through cinema."