By Jivraj Burman, IANS
Mumbai : Upon learning that some Bollywood producers are planning films ‘inspired’ by her life in politics and out of it, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has advised them to err on the side of caution.
She got in touch with Tarun Rathi, the Mumbai “in-charge” of her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), wanting to know whether rumours in her state about movie projects on her life were indeed true.
Rathi, taking his brief seriously, immediately dashed off letters to all the associations of producers and directors in Mumbai, seeking to know if anyone was starting movies on “Behenji Kumari Mayawatiji.”
“Our respected Behenji Kumari Mayawatiji does not want any filmmaker to face any difficulty at the time of release of their films,” Rathi explained in his letter.
If somebody had already started such a venture, Rathi wrote, he should get in touch with him. Why? Because any such producer or director must take prior permission from Mayawati, he said.
If the filmmakers went ahead with their projects without the “knowledge of behenji or the BSP”, they would only be courting unnecessary trouble, which, he said, Mayawati would not like them to go through.
There are indeed some film titles, such as “Behenji,” “Mayawati,” “Kumari Mayawati” and “Kumari Behenji Mayawatiji”, registered with an association of producers. And a few of these movies have already gone into production to 3.
Veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan is already facing her wrath. Mayawati first slapped a forgery case against him in a land deal in Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh, but the apex court ruled in his favour.
Now, look at the discomfiture that Amitabh is once again facing for not counting the worth of some overgrown palm trees in Barabanki.
The Barabanki district authorities Monday issued a notice to the superstar accusing him of undervaluing the stamp duty on a plot of land he bought in the area to open a girls’ college to be named after his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai.
Amitabh is known to be close to Samajwadi Party leaders Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav, archrivals of Mayawati.
(Jivraj Burman can be contacted at [email protected])