Babul tax free in Delhi, may soon get tax exemption in

New Delhi, Dec 23 (UNI) Close on heels of tax exemption for Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 'Lage Raho Munnabhai due to its message of ''relevance of the Gandhian philosophy in modern times'', Ravi Chopra's 'Babul' has been exempted from entertainment tax in Delhi for ''effectively propagating the message of widow remarriage''.

The Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee Salman Khan-starrer, which seeks to propagate the social message of widow remarriage, has been granted tax free status in the Capital for a period of three months, sources in B R films, the producers of the film, told UNI here.

The producers of the film received a certificate late on Thurday night for tax exemption for 'Babul'.

''Babul has been granted exemption from entertainment tax for a period of three months for its effectively propagating the socially relevant message of widow remarriage,''the certificate said.

The sources said the tax exemption for the film, produced by B R Chopra and directed by Ravi Chopra, came after a special screening of the film earlier this week for Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and revenue department officials of the Delhi government where the director of the film Ravi Chopra was also present.

Directed by Ravi Chopra and produced by B R Chopra, the film also stars yesteryear dream girl Hema Malini and Bollywood star Salman Khan.

Efforts are also on to secure a tax exemption for the film in Uttar Pradesh, which could come about soon, the producers said.

Released across India on December 8, 'Babul' is the first film in recent years to deal with the social message of widow remarriage.

Says the director of the film Ravi Chopra,''we at B R Films have always believed in making films and TV shows with a distinct social message be it our films from the 60s to the 80s like 'Naya Daur', 'Nikaah', 'Dahleez' or recent films like 'Baghban' and now 'Babul.'' Tax exemption for 'Babul' follows a tax free status for B R films' last cinematic venture 'Baghban', a film which espoused the cause of the elderly. Also Babul is the second film in recent months to be made tax free because of its strong social message. A few months ago, Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' had been granted tax free status in the capital for its role in bringing into renewed focus the Gandhian ideology of truth and non violent satyagraha.

UNI AR SB BD1250