For Prakash's Jha's 'Raajneeti', Congress played first censor

By ANSHUL CHATURVEDI, TNN,
NEW DELHI: Controversy has dogged Prakash Jha's Raajneeti, with the bulk of the attention focused on his choice of Katrina Kaif, foreign-born actress whose Hindi diction was less than perfect. Was the character modelled on Sonia Gandhi? Jha has stoutly denied it.

The film just cleared the censors but with a U/A certification and an unprecedented pre-censor viewing by three representatives of Congress - Tom Vadakkan, Pankaj Sharma and Sanjeev Bhargava. The Congress reps wanted an adult tag for the political film, but the appellate tribunal made it U/A.

Jha recalled that the Congress reps demanded some specific cuts, bleeping out some expletives, deleting a scene where a party worker solicits Arjun Rampal for ticket, and chopping a supposedly racy lovemaking scene between Katrina and Rampal. Other cuts were more political.

"They said you can't use the word 'qaum' in a dialogue which was about the 'qaum' always being betrayed by a political party. And there was a line that said 'le jayegi vidhwa support samet ke'; it was said in the context of an electoral sympathy wave. I had to change 'vidhwa' to 'beti'."

Even after these changes, the panel insisted on an A certificate, says Jha. At this point, the makers moved the tribunal, which overruled the panel and gave a U/A certification. Only one member, Anil Thomas - he is also a member of the Kerala Congress committee - disagreed, and his dissent note has been marked on the order, the director chuckles.

Earlier, the Raajneeti cast was denied permission by the police to hold an event at SRCC after getting the college authorities' nod, and on their next trip to Delhi their plans to hold a media event at India Gate or Red Fort came a cropper, with the team finally having to settle for a Gurgaon hotel.

The mannerisms and dress of Katrina's character have not helped Jha disown her resemblance to anyone living or dead, while aggravating the anxiety levels of Congress loyalists as the movie approached the certification stage. But the pressure began in a concerted manner before that, says Jha.

"In mid-May I got a call from my friend, actor Mohan Agashe, saying that a senior bureaucrat in the I&B ministry wanted to speak to me," said Jha. "He said he had heard good things about the movie, and asked if he could see it. I said, 'Sir, film toh dekhne ke liye banayee hai, let me just submit it to the censors, and I will organize a show'. But he said, it is a sensitive issue, I want to see it before you submit it."

He added, "This left me surprised. A lot of small-time politicos were making the right noises to prove that they would not let their leaders be denigrated - though I am not doing that - but this was unusual."

In 2006, director Jagmohan Mundhra's ambitious project to make a biopic on Sonia Gandhi with Italian actress Monica Bellucci playing the lead role floundered after the Congress first made disapproving noises and then served a legal notice asking him to desist.