Umesh Kulkarni presented his film Deool amidst controversy and protests against its screening recently at the 43rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI)
Along with the usual filmy gossip and masala banter in thefilmy atmosphere, spirituality made an unusual topic of discussion at IFFI thisyear. The reasons, however, could be the new special section – ‘Soul of Asia’ –which celebrated spirituality; or the discussion by the cast and crew of ‘Lifeof Pi’ who spoke about the spiritual angle of the film and shed light onreligion and self-realisation of God. Amidst all these events, thecontroversial Marathi film, Deool (The Temple) was screened in the Indian Panoramasection. The Hindu Mahasabha (Goa) had written to the Chief Minister requestingthe omitssion of the film from the 43rd IFFI for hurting religious sentimentsof Hindus by insulting Lord Datta through one of the songs in the film.
Umesh Kulkarni, the director of Deool says, “In our countrywe cannot say anything because someone or the other’s religious sentiments arealways on the verge of getting hurt. People start protesting even beforewatching the film. It is really unfair to the artists of the county as we makefilms based on our own experiences. Once the film is made, then one canlogically debate and put his/her opinion forward. But banning a film is notjustified.”
Kulkarni supports his brother and lyricist Girish Kulkarniand cites an example in his defence. He says, “Songs like Aa Ante Amplapure,are changed into ‘Ye Bhakta Tuljapurla’ without changing its tune. These‘hideous’ songs are used for the devotion of God and played at most places ofworship. How can this be justified?” He further elaborates on the story and theuse of songs in the film, “The structure of the film shows the transformationof the minds of the villagers and the pattern of the song changes accordingly.The first song is a bhajan. The last song is a rap song used to depict thechaos happening in pursuit of God and people trying to market faith. Moreover,‘darling datta’ is not demeaning god in any way.”
According to Shiv Prasad Joshi, President of the HinduMahasabha, there were protests against the film in Maharashtra, Karnataka andinternationally also. In Belgaum some distributors stopped screening of thisfilm after protests. In San Francisco (USA), Hindus protested against the filmby gathering in front of Bluelight Cinemas. There are complaints about thisfilm to the Indian Censor Board also. Joshi says, “When alert Hindus opposedthis song, lyricist Girish Kulkarni in a discussion on news channel said, ‘I ama devotee of Bhagvan Datta. The film is produced to stop the use of temples forpolitical gain’. After that in a debate in Pune he further said that ‘the filmis produced to tell the society to immerse God’. By making such a statement hehas displayed his malicious intent.”
Joshi adds, “When there is so much controversy surroundingthe film, it is surprising as to why was the film included in the IFFI. Evenlast year, M F Husain’s controversial documentary was screened in spite ofprotests.”
