Click to play videoActress and Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan should have known this: any remark about language in Maharashtra must pass the censor of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray.
“We are from Uttar Pradesh and we will speak in Hindi—Maharashtrians will forgive us,” said Jaya in a passing remark at a film function last week. Thackeray heard it as an insult to all Maharashtrians and threatened to “ban” all films of the Bachchan family in Mumbai and Maharashtra.
He got his wish: Jaya's superstar husband Amitabh Bachchan apologised . “We apologise and seek forgiveness. Thereafter, if the matter is still not settled, we have been told that there will be an investigation and we'll wait for the investigation results. If we are found guilty of any crime, punish us," said Amitabh at a press conference in Mumbai on Wednesday.
“We had no intention of hurting anyone. Jaya didn’t say anything with malice,” he said. “If people feel that their sentiments have been hurt, we express our regret and we apologise."
Amitabh has earned MNS’ displeasure before. The MNS in February 2008 had accused Bachchan of not doing enough for Maharashtra and favouring his home state of Uttar Pradesh.
In an interview to CNN-IBN, Amitabh indicated it was his celebrity status which made him an easy prey for anybody who wanted to create a controversy.
“Somewhere because you are being identified; because you are of a certain status which is watched and is under a microscope, a certain amount of caution and care has to be exercised.
"I think anyone who is in public life or has celebrity status needs to do that every time. I have always expect that to my children, to everyone in my family and others too," he said.
Are the Bachchans a soft target for politicians? Do politicians pick on artistes and celebrities because they are easy victims?
CNN-IBN’s Bhupendra Chaubey asked this on Face The Nation to advocate Rahul Narvekar, who heads the legal cell of Shiv Sena, social activist Alyque Padamsee and filmmaker Ashok Pandit.
Language of politics
An individual has the right to speak in the language she wants to, said Padamsee. “Jaya and Amitabh Bachchan, me and every other person in this country are first and foremost Indians. I consider myself a Maharashtrian because I was born here but that doesn’t mean that I have to bow and say we must speak in Marathi and no other language,” he said.
Narvekar, whose party has faulted actor Shah Rukh Khan for saying that he is a Delhiite at heart, said Maharashtrians felt hurt because Jaya said she “wouldn’t” speak Marathi. “There is a difference between saying I cannot speak Marathi and I won’t speak Marathi.
The sheer manner in which it was put forth—‘I will not speak Marathi; I am from Uttar Pradesh’—that has definitely hurt the sentiments of the Maharashtrian people,” he said.
Mumbai should feel hurt not because of what the Bachchans did but what has been done to them, said Pandit. “It is a sad moment when an icon of the stature of Bachchan sahab has to bow down and go on his knees and say sorry—a man who is the icon of the country,” he said.
“It is matter of shame for Mumbai and India that a man of Bachchan sahab has to talk in this language.” The film industry supports Amitabh but artistes are creative people and cannot protest or throw stones and bottles outside Raj Thackeray’s house, said Pandit.
Narvekar insisted that nobody wished disrespect to Amitabh but his clarification had a rider. “The Shiv Sena had the highest respect for Amitabh but no one is larger than Maharashtra,” he said.
Mumbai aspires to be a world city—a New York or Sanghai of the future but why can’t then it respect one if its most illustrious residents. Is Mumbai going to be a modern, progressive city or an exclusionist and intolerant city?
“Let’s be honest, all this is about politics,” said Padamsee. “There are two parties fighting over the Marathi Manoos (Marathi identity) vote. The Congress is going to gain from that because the parties will split the vote and Congress will walk in. I think that is the plan of action behind it all,” he said.
Politicians love to harass film stars because the work is easy and the publicity maximum, said Pandit. “The easiest way for a politician to get publicity is to abuse an Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan on the streets. Politicians have realised that if they abuse a person who has the maximum TRPs they will be discussed about. Everybody is now discussing Raj Thackeray,” he said.
All governments play vote-bank politics and therefore no action is taken against politicians or parties, said Padamsee. “If you burn a church in Orissa no action is taken. If you burn cinemas in Maharashtra no action is taken, but if you are a bar girl then you will be arrested and you will be banned. Why can’t the same political muscle be brought against goondagiri?” he said.
SMS/Web poll: Are the Bachchans a soft target for politicians?
Yes: 81 per cent
No: 19 per cent.
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