Sunday, April 29, 2007

Amitabh Bachchan’s 'Nishabd’ draws protest in Jalandhar


Romancing with a girl of one's granddaughter's age may have fascinated Russian author Vladimir Nabokov's creative urge to pen down a famous novel, but in Jalandhar the soon to be released Amitabh Bachchan starrer movie made on the same lines has evoked a public outrage.

On Friday, people here staged a protest against the forthcoming Ram Gopal Verma’s next film titled Nishabd, where a sexagenarian Amitabh will be seen getting infatuated towards an 18-year-old girl, portrayed by debutante Zia Khan.

People participating in the protest, organized by the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP)'s Jalandhar unit alleged that the movie was against Indian culture.

The protesters shouted slogans against Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan for taking up such a role and also defaced many posters of the film.


"We are protesting against Amitabh Bachchan's film Nishabd. He has grand children and he is romancing with a young girl in the film that is beyond his dignity and against our social values. The message that the film will convey is contradictory to our society. Hence, we are protesting against the screening of the film and we will continue our protest till the film is banned," said Parminder Singh, general secretary Lok Jan Shakti Party, Punjab unit.

The self-proclaimed protectors of Indian ethos demanded a nation-wide ban on the screening of the film, failing which they issued a warning that their protest may aggravate.

Nishabd, considered to be based on Nabokov's 'Lolita,' is scheduled for a March 3 release and reportedly, exhibits a high voltage sensual drama between Amitabh and Zia Khan. (ANI)