Saif Ali Khan picks up cudgel against Mayawati government

After filmmaker Prakash Jha, it’s time for actor Saif Ali Khan to pick up cudgels against the Mayawati government of Uttar Pradesh (UP), after the  team was refused an entry into the state to promote their upcoming film based on caste reservation.

“It pains me to hear that I am not welcome in a state of my country.
It’s such a shame that political parties are allowed to dictate such terms. Whatever is happening to us at the moment is certainly not desirable,” says Saif.

Jha has been denied permission by the UP government to hold a seminar on job reservation at the Lucknow University. Later when they hired the Indira Gandhi auditorium, permission was denied yet again by the Lucknow Development Authority.

Jha apparently has even left a message with a close associate of CM Mayawati saying that he is willing to arrange a special screening of the film for her but the chief minister hasn’t responded to it. There are reports that Uttar Pradesh government might ban the film from getting released in the state.

On the other hand, Bihar’s former chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav has asked for a special screening for him before the film releases in Bihar.

According to Chhote Nawab, when the Censor Board has passed the film without any cuts, the political parties should respect the decision.

“It is being unnecessarily made into an issue when it is not such an issue. How can you decide what is there in the film even before you have seen the film? We knew that we were working on a controversial subject, but we didn’t know that we would get this kind of treatment from a certain section of people,” adds Saif.

The actor still hopes that better judgment will prevail. “I just hope that the political parties respect the sentiments and not scuttle an art form in this manner. This is not a political controversy, it’s just a film. Whatever is happening is shocking for me,” says Saif.