After the shameful and infamous incident of graffiti and wreckage on the sets of famous father-son director duo The Sippy’s next film (tentatively titled Nautanki Saala), film makers have decided to seek for security from the State Government. A group of well known directorial faces from the industry are reportedly planning a meeting with the State’s Chief Minister Mr. Prithviraj Chavan for taking prior and necessary action against the illegal vandalism that has stalled the shoot for the film.
Mahesh Bhatt, Yash Chopra, Ramesh Sippy
On Sunday afternoon, a group of eleven people were arrested from the site of ravaging in Kandivali. One of the main accused, Ravindra More seems to be the personal chauffer to senior MNS officer Pravin Darekar and has been arrested. Additional CP of the North region, Mr. Sunil Prabhakar had told a leading daily that the ones accused of the crime would be kept in the police custody till the 1st of August. But the police arrest did not quite satisfy the B-Town filmmakers who are wary of shooting in the city henceforth.
Veteran film maker who headed several super hit projects in the past, Mahesh Bhatt has reportedly spoken to the CM and cajoled him for a meeting. The meeting is said to be attended by a host of other well known faces from the industry, including big guns with the likes of Ramesh Sippy, Mukesh Bhatt, Yash Chopra and Ashutosh Gowariker. The main motive of the meeting is to request the State Government to implement some stern actions against the caitiffs, thereby preventing any such mishaps from happening in the future.
Mukesh Bhatt, who spearheads the Film and Television Producers’ Guild of India is known to have made two demands from the Chief Minister. The filmmakers want the Government to intensify the security at film locations and arrest the convicted under a non-bail able warrant. Bhatt has also expressed his disappointment over the incident. The film industry has just completed hundred glory years and such incidents are haunting the film makers to carry on with their shoots in their own city- Sapno ki Nagri Mumbai! According to him, it is not just MNS but many other political parties have the same influences.
Mahesh Bhatt seconded his brother’s words concluding that if the same thing goes on, they might just have to move out of the city looking for options to finish their films. The effect of the entire incident has just fallen on MLA Pravin Darekar. Initially, he was assigned two constables at night and two during the daytime but post this disgraceful incident, the Government has decided to teach the miscreants a nice lesson by lowering their security quotient. With such collsions poping up here and there every now and then, the film makers are under the scanner. Safety and security have become crucial terms while assessing any locations for a film’s shoot and that has also culminated in many eminent producers and directors deciding to shoot their films at places where security is not much of an issue.
With the bend of politics over movies from times immemorial, it is difficult to assume whether the problems would be mitigated immediately. But as the saying goes, never say never again!
