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The moral policemen are out again. In fact they've always been there. It's just that they go in a consensual hibernation to surface again to stamp their presence. Or importance! An advocate Dakshinamoorthy filed a PIL in a local court in Madurai on February 10th this year against actresses Shilpa Shetty and Reema Sen for allegedly "Posing in an obscene manner" in photographs published in a Tamil Tabloid. "The pictures will mislead youth and result in increase in violence against women," the petitioner said. Non bailable warrants have been issued against the two actresses and the editor of the Tabloid. This is not the first time that the cultural zealots have held the celebrities to ransom. The Milind Soman-Madhu Sapre Tuff Shoes Print Advertisement where their nude frame has a snake for company or the morphed nude photograph of actress Pooja Bhatt gracing the front cover of a gossip magazine, PIL filed against the alleged nudity on the posters of her film Rog, outrage against Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen, violent reservations against alternate sexuality in Fire or vandalizing the sets of Deepa Mehta's Water. The list of intolerance goes on and on. So, what exactly is it? A publicity stunt to gain milage for a political party. Or is it moral policing in twenty first century? "We need to rethink our laws and question our so-called 'tradition'. We need to trust ourselves to decide for 'ourselves' "Burn at the stake all those 'moral policemen' who delude themselves into believing that they are saving India from moral damnation in the name of 'duty'". Because when an 'ignorant' man is doing something that he is ashamed of, he always declares, that it is his duty," says actress-producer-director Pooja Bhatt. Shilpa's father Surendra Shetty countered the allegations by saying, "The photographs were taken from the stills of a Kannada film Auto Shankar, done by Shilpa a year ago. And the pictures were published by a Tamil eveninger. The Censor Board had already passed the film and we fail to understand, what's the big deal in a photograph where she is wearing a saree and her navel is being shown! The petitioner wanted some publicity and he got the same when the TV channels gave mileage to him. It's a bad precedent that is being set for exploiting celebrities." Milind Soman excused himself from speaking anything about his own case as "The matter is still subjudice" but he sympathized with his 'friend' Shilpa. Actress Preeti Jhangiyani took sides with the two heroines. "Girls are more vulnerable to such things. I think all this is rubbish. Shilpa is a mature actress. All this is being blown out of proportion," she said. Perky item girl Rakhi Sawant defended the two girls in question in strong words. "Reema Sen doesn't have the body to expose so why should a non-bailable arrest warrant be issued against her. As for Shilpa Shetty, then I think she knows her limits and would never expose before photographers. If it would have been Mallika Sherawat or Neha Dhupia, then it may have been justified as they expose. I feel it's nothing but a publicity stunt," she says. Rakhi herself was up in arms with the law recently when she was booked for indecency during a stage show in Kolahpur. "When I do the same dance movements in music videos and they are played nationally then what's the problem when I perform on stage," she says. Producer-Director Vinod Pandey who has made bold but aesthetically sound films like Yeh Nazdikiyan faced stiff resistance from a section of Christian Clergy for his films Sins. "I think it was all politicized. If there was any cause for concern then I should have faced protests in Kerala where a huge number of Christian population lives. But nothing happened. So, why stop my film in Mumbai?" A more recent example where religious sentiments resisted the freedom of expression was Ron Howard's The Da Vinci Code that once again incited the Christianity Community. The release of this Tom Hanks Hollywood blockbuster was deferred by a week as the certain 'details' related with Jesus Christ in the film were found to be incorrect and were allegedly distorting the actual history. Moral Policing or Publicity Stunt. The Big Fight lingers on. It's time Bollywood had the guts to show a united face and counter the assault of the illogical. For it is not one man's problem. It can happen with anyone.
Mohanlal in Priyardarshan's Hindi film
The film 'Company' gave the Bollywood film lovers a taste of the great talent of the south superstar Mohanlal. Although 'Aag' was rejected by the viewers, the acting of the Malayalam actor was highly appreciated. Busy round the year with his commitments in the Malayalam film industry, Mohanlal was not seen in any Hindi films for sometime now. But in the year 2009 he will be seen in a movie to be directed by his long time friend and ace film maker Priyadarshan. If everything goes fine and the movie gets released next year, film lovers will be seeing yet another great performance from Mohanlal who is considered as one of the most gifted and natural actors in India. The untitled film is not going to be a typical Bollywood potboiler and will have a strong social message on AIDS. The actor is also looking forward to doing this film with the director as he was not able to act in the recently released realistic film titled 'Kanjeevaram' directed by Priyadarshan. The director has said in the past that working with Mohanlal brings out the best of his talent. Everyone in Kerala knows about the great working chemistry of Priyadarshan and Mohanlal due to the several memorable movies that came through out the 80's and 90's. Seems like the time has come for the whole of India also to know this one of its kind rapport between the two colossal talents.
Mohan Babu to take Rajini route
Mohan Babu has a thing about Rajinikanth. The Tamil superstar is not only a very close friend of Mohan Babu's but is also an inspiration in his career. Mohan Babu has remade some Rajini films in Telugu with egregious success. Now that Mohan Babu's career has been at the crossroads, especially after the quiet response to Political Rowdy, Mohan Babu again hopes to take the Rajni route. Mohan Babu, who is also managing the affairs of his two sons Vishnu and Manoj, is planning to rope in director P Vasu for his next movie. P Vasu has been riding a crest wave of success now. He took Rajini back to his heights with Chandramukhi. Then he has revived Ajith's career with Paramasivan. Vasu is scheduled to do a movie for Balakrishna. After that, talks are on to rope Vasu for a film with Mohan Babu.
Mohan Babu's power of friendship
Mohan Babu's appeal and strength lies in the fact that everybody respects him. He is very friendly with everyone and naturally everyone reciprocates that feeling. And once again his value of friendship showed yesterday in Chennai. Everybody knows that Mohan Babu and Rajinikanth are intimate friends. Everyone also knows that Rajinikanth is a reluctant star. He is uncomfortable attending functions. He is also avoiding the media glare as it is election in Tamil Nadu. Since he is also acting in Sivaji, Rajini has stopped coming out in the public. But his friendship with Mohan Babu made him to make an exception. Rajinikanth made his presence felt at a two-wheeler showroom in Chennai yesterday. He was there simply because he had given a word to his buddy Mohan babu.
Mohan Babu honours Shobhana
Trust Mohan Babu to get the timing right. It is a great asset to any movie artiste. And Mohana Babu has it. Even as he is fully immersed in his new movie, the veteran actor-producer, chose to honour his co-artiste Shobhana, on getting the Padma Sri. It was a fitting felicitation for a talented artiste. As Mohan Babu himself said it was a proud moment for all of us in the industry. Mohan Babu's touching gesture moved Shobhana very much that she said that he (Mohan Babu) takes care of his co-artistes very well. 'This is my fifth film with him and he was the first to congratulate me on my getting the Padma Sri'. On his new movie Mohan Babu said, he played a taxi driver, and Shobhana his wife. 'It is a film with all the ingredients'.
Mohan Babu charms all
Trust Mohan Babu to pull it off. The veteran actor is very popular and winsome in the industry and he manages to work his magic on everyone. From top actors, producers down to spot boys, Mohan Babu is a popular man. And when there is a celebration in his house, you can see almost all of them as it seems a mini-festival. These days the Mohan Babu household is celebrating the impending marriage of his daughter Lakshmi Prasanna. The wedding is slated for tomorrow. Mohan Babu's love and affection for his daughter is well known (his production house is named after her) and hence he has not left no stone unturned to make the occasion memorable. A couple of days back he threw a big bash for his industry colleagues. The biggies of the industry were all at hand at a popular star hotel to add glitter to the event. It was an A-list event as all the heavyweights were in attendance. Chiru's family, T Subbrami Reddy, Balakrishna, Venkatesh, Chalasani Ramesh, Ravi Teja, Srikanth, Jagapati Babu and the entire team provided the glitter.