It is not uncommon for producers to quote positive lines from reviews of reviewers or trade analysts in the display advertisements or even hoardings of their films with the obvious intention of luring the public to the cinema halls. Sometimes, producers don’t even wait for the reviews to be out and ask for a catchy line from each of the reviewers who may have liked their film so that the line in praise of the film or its script or music or actor can be highlighted. While all this is understandable, what isn’t is the gumption of some producers sometimes to quote the reviewer out of context or misquote him or twist a line that may not be so complimentary to the film.
A display ad of Bin Bulaye Baraati, issued in Mid-Day on 16th June, a day prior to the film’s release, carried the erroneous comment.
But the cake is, perhaps, taken by the producers of Bin Bulaye Baraatiwhich opened last week. In the display ad of the film, issued in Mid-Day on 16th June, a day prior to the film’s release, the producers very prominently (right on top of the advertisement, and in bold capital letters) quoted your editor as saying, “The audiences zoom with laughter on the edges of their seats….” Of course, your editor never himself laughed while watching the film, so there was no question of making such an outrageously deceitful comment about the film even in private, leave alone for public consumption. Not only did your editor not think much of the film but the English used in the quote purported to have been made by him was also so unlike from the Queen’s English he uses. To reproduce the quote attributed to Komal Nahta: “The audiences ZOOM (!!!!) with (!?!) laughter on the edges (!!!!) of their seats….” Frankly, one doesn’t understand what’s more unpardonable – the blatant lack of decorum in attributing a statement to someone who did not make it or the complete lie conveyed through the statement or the atrocious English used to convey the white lie. Your editor is zooming with laughter, blooming with tears and grooming with anger!
