[Reader-list] On the Hindi film ban in N. East India

[Harsh Kapoor]

The Statesman [ Calcutta]
September 17 2003 

Hindi film ban draws furious reaction

By Nava Thakuria

A PROPOSED ban on Hindi films in the North East by an alliance of 
armed groups has drawn furious reaction from prominent filmmakers. 
Cinema hall owners, too, have voiced their displeasure, though on a 
more cautious note.
The reaction comes in the wake of public outrage against militant 
Naga factions in which at least three cadres from both major groups 
were killed in separate incidents and the NSCN (K) forced to move out 
of its established headquarters at Mokokchung as a result.
Dada Saheb Phalke awardee and Assamese legend Bhupen Hazarika 
described the ban as illogical because people must have the freedom 
of choice. "After all, Hindi cinema has its own beauty," he said. "If 
the people of the North East want to enjoy Hindi movies, they should 
not be prevented."
Jnanpith award winner and popular Assamese novelist, Indira Goswami, 
said that choices should not be dictated. "I don't believe that all 
Hindi movies are of good quality, but there may be some worthy ones. 
Judgment should not clouded by another's dictates."
Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon blasted the pro-ban lobby as a 
"bunch of gun-totting villains" for trying to impose its views. 
Tandon, who won a national award for her performance in Daman, a film 
based on an Assamese family, had some advice for the insurgents: they 
should go to the villages and do something for the rural people.
The groups that have put forward the demand include the United 
Liberation Front of Asom, the Peoples Liberation Army and the United 
National Liberation Front of Manipur as well as the National 
Democratic Front of Bodoland. Significantly, the most powerful of 
these groups, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim, that is 
holding peace talks with New Delhi, is not on the list. Charu Kamal 
Hazarika, a senior filmmaker, remarked that television serials were 
more harmful than Hindi films. "Bollywood feature films are not 
generally taken seriously; the people consider them only as a source 
of entertainment, " he said. "But the serials have more exposure."
"It's ridiculous," snapped Santwana Bordoloi, director of Adajya, a 
national award winner. A film society activist said that no one could 
claim that only Hindi films are bad and not the Assamese or Bengali 
or other regional productions. "If a bad film is to banned, we must 
consider the quality, not the language."
Cinema hall owners are in a quandary. If they comply with the demand 
of the militants, they run the risk of facing legal action from the 
government.
This is not the first time that there have been plans to ban Hindi 
films in the region. Insurgent groups in Manipur had banned Bollywood 
movies in 2001. The ban continues but many people watch these films 
in the privacy of their homes.
Although the North East is primarily a non-Hindi belt, Hindi films 
have always been popular and have had large markets. There are around 
200 cinema halls in the region, with about 150 of them in Assam alone.
"Most shows in those commercial auditoriums are primarily of 
Bollywood movies. So the ban, if implemented, will greatly affect the 
collection of cinema halls," said P Sharma, an office bearer of the 
Eastern India Motion Picture Association.

(The author is a Guwahati-based journalist.)