In what can be seen as a sincere, honest attempt to regulate objectionable cinema content, the Indian government has appointed a one-man “Justice Verma” committee, headed by none other than terri(ble)fic director Ram Gopal Verma, to come up with a list of guidelines, which directors must adhere to in order to check the proliferation of content deemed offensive to the sensitivities of the movie watching public.
The move comes in the wake of the controversy surrounding ace actor Kamal Hassan’s latest magnum opus, Vishwaroopam, which has been opposed by Muslim groups on the grounds that it propagates negative stereotypes about their community as is the case with upcoming Tamil movie “Aadhi Bhagawan”, which is being opposed by Hindu groups for similar reasons. A secular group of Indians cutting across caste, community and class have also objected to movies such as Khildai 786, which they deem to be an assault on not just their sensitivities but sensibilities as well.
The decision to appoint the one-man committee headed by Ram Gopal Verma is believed to be the brain-child of Telugu superstar (telugu man’s Rajini), Chiranjeevi in his capacity as the Minister of State for Tourism and Culture. “Well, the week has been hard, with many movie-goers all over the country saying that the High Court websites should soon open a ‘Movie Reviews’ section,” explained Chiru sir, “or take training as movie critics under the likes of Raja Sen to be able to pass judgments on controversial or plainly crass movies.”
But having ruled the Telugu movie industry for decades, an amazing brainwave struck me. Why not let an accomplished filmmaker such as Ram Gopal Verma handle such issues. Our attempt in floating the Justice Verma committee to outline reforms needed in light of the recent heinous Delhi gang-rape incident has pleased the public. So we thought why not a similar committee for this issue too.”
“To our good luck, we didn’t even have to change the name of the committee, all thanks to Ram Gopal Verma. He is the ideal man for the job, as his movies have proven to successfully offend all groups of humanity, irrespective of caste, creed, race or religion. No one knows better than him as to what could offend people, as every movie he has made in recent times has immaculately left all audiences fuming,” said Chiru.
The UnReal Times Bollywood correspondent Digvijay Kapoor managed to get in touch with Verma himself confirmed his appointment, saying, “Yeah, it’s true. I’ve been offered this task and I’m loving every bit of it. In fact, given my penchant for depicting real-life stories on celluloid, I’m soon gonna make a movie on this one-man committee itself. I’m hoping that someone good is ready to essay me.
Else I always have chaps like Vivek Oberoi who’re managing to be in the news just by changing their names to Viveik and so on, who will be ever-ready to act in my movie..err..any movie for that matter. Anyway, about my new job, I’m already on it. As for my first step, I think it’s time to ban ‘Race 2′ as it seems to have offended sensibilities of all audiences – including even me!”