RGV nips controversy, by courting another?

Controversy has turned another name for producer-director Ram Gopal Varma. He seems to move effortlessly from one to the other. The Jana Gana Mana in his Rann created a lot of controversy, so RGV has confirmed he will replace it. With what? Vande Mataram!

When RGV had revealed the first look of Rann with Jana Gana Mana, he explained that the lyrics of the national anthem were altered to give it a new socio-political dimension. But the matter reached the censor board and even the courts. While the censor board instructed Varma to refrain from telecasting the promo, producers Madhu Mantena and Sheetal Vinod Talwar had registered a civil case in the Mumbai High Court against the board’s ruling.

In fact, the makers of the films had even sent copies of the music video to MPs to show that they were in no way hurting national sentiments. “It made no sense in defending the song as enough noise was being made on it. So we decided to replace it and move on,” RGV said now.

But he is on the verge of starting a new controversy by including Vande Mataram as its replacement. “We have used just the two words ‘Vande Mataram’. I don’t see anything controversial in this since it stands for ‘I bow to thee, Mother’. Tell me, what’s wrong in using that?” Varma remained defiant.(DC)