Lights,Camera,Action!

Rakhi & Ishq take legal action on Censor Board

Till last week they were fuming and fretting over Censor Board pointing the word ‘kaminey’ in their music album Jhagade. This week,while extracting more mileage for their work,Rakhi Sawant and singer-composer-lyricist Ishq Bector,have gone ahead and taken legal action on the industry’s regulatory body,the Censor Board. Recently,the Board passed a diktat that the word ‘kamine’ be deleted or bleeped out from the opening verse of ‘Bhoot’; from their album titled ‘Jhagde’,released by Pen Music. Challenging the Censors’ decision,the duo,who are also the producers of the album,have sent a Show Cause Notice to the Board. “The Censors clearly have double standards…When they can pass an entire film called ‘Kaminey’,what sense does it make to delete the word ‘kamine’ from our video,and that too,without giving us any reason whatsoever,” fumes Sawant. “It goes like ‘Kamine tera bhoot chad gaya re.’ But after the word being bleeped out,our song sounds disjointed. This has killed its impact and sabotaged our album sales,” says Ishq,who has also written the lyrics. The Board,they add,passed the promos of the number containing the mukhda,without any cuts,while censoring the word only in the ‘video’. “Does the Censor Board have different standards for films,videos and promos? Or are we being singled out just because we are smaller producers?” questions Ishq. “The Censor Board are being unjust and biased,and are making a mockery of morality,” shoots Rakhi. The duo’s advocate Rizwan Siddiquee says,“No act of commission or omission on the part of the Censor Board,or any officer representing it,should be arbitrary,unjust or in manner be biased or sexist. The Board needs to fully understand that its acts could willfully prejudice the fundamental rights of an aggrieved party and therefore it should act accordingly.” Let’s see how the Censor Board reacts or counters Rakhi and Ishq’s charges.