Film Industry: Chakravyuh’s Mehangai song cleared, but its remix version rejected

Chakravyuh’s Mehangai song cleared, but its remix version rejected

    The Mehangai track in Prakash Jha’s Chakravyuh has run into trouble with the Censor Board yet again.
    The first time , the Examining Committee had raised objections to the inclusion of names like Tata and Birla in the song. After the filmmaker put a disclaimer stating that the name references were purely for illustrative purposes and that he didn’t mean any disrespect for the individuals or the brand names, it was cleared for the film and as the original song promo. This time, however, the remix version has been rejected for using the same words, despite the director clarifying his stand with the same reasoning as before.
    “I’m quite zapped. In isolation, the promo of the song, which we had submitted earlier, went through the Examining Committee and the Revising Committee,” he says, adding that when he finally volunteered to add the disclaimer, the committee members cleared it to play as a song promo and in the movie.
    It is learnt that some members also had problem over the word ‘sardaari’ in the line, ‘Bhaiyaa bahut dekhi teri sardaari re, Ab toh hamri baari re.’ And they wanted to know if it was hinting at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
    The filmmaker says, “I was shocked and had a hard time explaining to them that ‘sardaari’ was in context of the meaning leader. Even dacoits call their leader sardar.” After the Mehangai song was cleared, the remixed version he submitted for playing on satellite channels got rejected.
Baffled, he says, “It’s the same song with same words, just slightly altered visuals. Why
    can’t they make up their minds?”
    Asked if he pointed out to the committee that their fellow-members had cleared the same song previously, Jha replied in the affirmative. “But they said that every committee is different, so they have different views. So, I’m going to the tribunal as I’ve no option left.”
    Jha hopes his song is cleared soon, so that his film doesn’t lose out on publicity.