Gujarat given time till Friday to release ''Fanaa''

Mumbai, May 29: Bolly wood today unitedly backed actor Aamir Khan in his stand off against BJP in Gujarat over comments on Narmada dam oustees and gave the exhibitors in the state time till Friday to release ''Fanaa''.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Pahlaj Nihalani, the President of Association of Motion Pictures and Television programme producers (AMPTPP), and Amit Khanna, who heads the Film and Television Producers Guild of India (FTPGI), said the industry is supporting Aamir Khan and everybody should respect the freedom to dissent from majority view.

''Aamir Khan said nothing which is detrimental to the interests of the country or Gujarat and he has clarified his position several times in the last one month,'' they said, adding that if the film is not screened by Friday, the industry would chart out its course of action in the next seven days.

''We cannot tolerate the film industry being meted out injustice and allow our workers to suffer. If the film is not exhibited in Gujarat by Friday, we should not be blamed for the consequences'', Mr Nihalani said, but refused to divulge their next plan of action.

To a question on whether the industry would consider boycotting the Gujarat territory, Mr Khanna hoped that the current impasse would not last long. ''We hope better sense would prevail as we do not want confrontation with anybody. We hope this is not war because neither we nor the government of Gujarat would benefit'', he added.

Vehemently criticising the stand of the Gujarat government, Mr Khanna said exhibitors in the state were not screening the film under pressure. ''The police is not giving them protection. The government's primary responsibility is protection of life and property of its citizens'', he added.

Mr Nihalani warned politicians to stay away from movie business and not to draw milege by targetting film personalities. ''Once a film is cleared by the Censor board, it is nobody's business to stop it's screening. If one wants to protest, it can be done peacefully at least 500 meters away from a cinema hall'', he added.

Mr Khanna and Mr Nihalani rejected criticism that the Mumbai Film Industry was not supporting Aamir and that the industry was a divided lot.

''We are practicing professionals and are most of the time busy in different parts of the country and sometimes the world. If is not possible for us to make our views public on any stand immediately.

But, we are in touch most of the time'', he added.

Mr Khanna said the FTPGI will not ask its members to refrain from making public comments on issues. ''We are not going to do this. Every body has a right to speak his/her mind and blocking the release of a film has nothing to do with views of any one individual'', he added.

Mr Khanna and Mr Nihalani did not see any reason why Aamir should apologise for his views on Narmada. ''He has done no wrong,'' they said.

''Fanaa'' producer Yash Chopra who was present, said he was losing Rs one crore daily because of the ''unofficial ban'' imposed on his film in Gujarat.''I fail to understand who is the loser or gainer in this entire controversy'', he said and denied media reports that Aamir had asked him to cut his fee by Rs two crore in view of the losses suffered.

''Aamir is one of my crew member and I have paid him for his work in my film. The issue here is not about money but about public morality and ethics'', Chopra said adding that he even had got an inkling of the problems to come last month, when posters of Fanaa were torn and burnt in Ahmedabad.

''I called on Chief MInister Narendra Modi immediately and returned to Mumbai after a fruitful meeting which lasted for more than an hour. Mr Modi assured all help in ensuring smooth release of the film'', Mr Chopra said.

He recalled that he sent his film's prints to exhibitors in Gujarat. ''But they called me last week asking what to do since they were getting threatening calls against exhibiting the film. I told them to do what they feel like. They should not feel that they had to suffer because of screening of my film'', Chopra said.

''I met Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi last saturday when he was in Mumbai and he has assured him that he would speak to the Gujarat government. I am hopeful that the issue would be settled'', he added.

Subhash Ghai while supporting Aamir said Gujarat was a cinema loving state. ''Aamir did not put forth his views to become a political leader. His views are what is mentioned in the Supreme Court judgement. It is only human and natural to rehabilitate the Narmada dam project affected'', he added.

Lamenting that Aamir is being unfairly targetted, Ghai said the industry was of creative people who wanted to contribute constructively to the nation and the society.

Such attacks on the integrity of an individual and film business with the state government keeping a strange silence was extremely unfair, he added.

Anupam Kher said the entire industry stood behind Aamir as his stand was for a worthy cause. ''we are accused of doing good for publicity. Aamir does not need publicity'', he said.

To a question on whether the industry would have come together for small producer, Amit Khanna replied ,''yes''.

Nihalani said it was not a question of ''Fanaa'' alone. ''Da Vinci Code'' has been banned in Punjab.''last year ,it was Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya and earlier Jo Bole So Nihal which was accused of provoking bomb blasts in Delhi theatres.

Anil Kapoor while condemning the film's blockade in Gujarat and attack on Aamir said the Gujarat government had the powers to tell the exhibitors to go ahead and fearlessly release the film in their cinema halls.

David Dhawan, Ashutosh Gowarikar,Sudhir Mishra,J P Dutta,Ramesh Sippy, Vashu Bhagnani, Sajid Nadiadwala,Vipul Shah,Kunal Kohli,Manmohan Shetty, Aziz Mirza were prominent among those who attended the media meet.

Members of the Federation of Western India Cine employees,junior artistes association also held posters of the film ''Fanaa'' in support of Aamir outside the venue of the press conference.

UNI