Letter to Yashraj Films (Dil Bole Hadippa)

prinzdude

Member
Bollywood has done it again. As if the films in the genre of Jo Bole So Nihal (which despite the protests of the Sikh community, continues to be shown on the small screen on different channels) were not enough, films like Love Aaj Kal, Raja Hindustani, Mohabattein, Badal, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and others continue to take Sikhs non-seriously. Sikh anger is growing, but neither Bollywood producers and directors nor the Central Board of Film Certification has taken this with the seriousness it deserves.

The writer of open letters makes a fervent appeal to the leading film production company of Bollywood –Yashraj Films and the Censor Board to take immediate action in consultation with Sikh bodies.

Copies of this letter have been sent to Yashraj Films by email at helpdesk@yashrajfilms.com and to Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting at jsp.inb@sb.nic.in. As the Central Board of Film Certification of India website is not working, a copy of the letter has been sent by mail. Readers are encouraged to write similar letters at both the addresses to ensure corrective action.


The Directors
Yashraj Films Private Limited
5, Shah Industrial Estate
Veera Desai Road
Andheri (West), Mumbai 400 053

Gentlemen:

Greetings in the Name of God, the light of every soul.

As if male actors were not enough to mock at the Sikhs, you now have a female actor to tar the Sikh image. Scenes and sequences from your latest movie seem to suggest that you are doing with a vengeance. I have browsed through whatever is available online on the internet and on television regarding your forthcoming movie -Dil Bole Hadippa and I have to say that the use of imagery and icons has been done cursorily and derogatorily. It is highly offensive to the devout for those who hold the religious way of life and tradition as a higher ideal.

Bollywood has been using names of God and script about God in a rather agnostic or atheistic manner and all this has been only “tolerable” not “acceptable and tolerable”. For Bollywood, with respect to Sikhs, freedom of expression has been license to poke fun at their attire, their intellect, their language and their community consciousness.

I have a hunch that there may be many more scenes in the whole movie which may raise our hackles and annoy us, but from what I have seen so far, I take strong objection to the following:

1. The use of the Sikh small turban –Keski as a dot on top of the alphabet i of Hadippa, both in the posters as well as the promo is simply shocking. The manner in which instead of the dot, the Keski –the small turban comes and rests on the alphabet I in an animated manner is disgusting. Do the producer and the director and all those involved with the movie remember the dot busters of USA of the late eighties and earlier nineties? Has Yashraj films and the promotional companies taken into account the impact of such imagery? If not, how does it propose to address this prior to the release of the movie? Is it a sinister move to make Sikhs the target as were the dot wearing Indians in the US at that point of time? To do this in a year, when Sikhs are commemorating the daylight murder of more than 3000 Sikhs in the capital city of Delhi is rubbing salt on our wounds. Sikhs, particularly young Sikhs are seething with anger at this kind of portrayal, and are highly perturbed.

2. The lead actor Rani Mukherjee is casually dressed as a Sikh and her whole character is stereotyping of the Sikh image so far held by Bollywood –“strong but foolish”. Why is this so? Do the makers of the movie realize that it is a Sikh face that is running India?

3. The promotional video of the movie on the internet very caustically says that Dil Bole Hadippa is “a tale of turbans, twists and tricks”. Could you not think of a more perverse way to trivialize the Sikh turban?

4. The interspersion of the display of Gatka with semi-nude Indian actresses during song sequences is nothing but blasphemy.

This is all intolerable. Under the aegis of the Film Certification and Censor Board, you should approach the Sikh community organizations in Mumbai and elsewhere and take all the necessary steps to remove offensive posters and scenes before the release of the movie on 18 September 2009.

Before another Sikh character, Rocket Singh, also of Yashraj Films hits us in the face; it is time to ensure that the sixer of the female actor does not hit the Sikh community badly, for if it does, it is likely to boomerang on you as well.

I pray that better sense will prevail and immediate corrective action will be taken. I also hope that this will enable others in Bollywood to be more careful and learned while portraying Sikh characters.

Jagmohan Singh
Editor-in-Chief, World Sikh News
World Sikh News-because the truth needs to be told

Jagmohan Singh is the editor of World Sikh News. He may be contacted at jswsneditor@gmail.com

WSN-Entertainment-Turban image in Bollywood film upsets Sikh people
 

prithvi.k

on off on off......
i have made this thread ha..but way before this letter... :an ok
---- https://www.unp.me/f99/rani-mukherje-sardarji-look-dil-bole-hadippa-hq-pi-54610/ ----

btw nice letter..well their films r not working so they doing like this.. as for money/frame/publicity ppl can cross any line...Even i feel that the Dot style they used in the movie title above "i" is weird & about that 4 feet flop heroine rani mukherjee..pehle toh he pasan nahi.. her carrier is down so she has taken this role.. top heroin i bet they will never do this.. bake sab pic dekhneh badh pata chalna....

P.S -
Btw watz Mr Manmohan singh is doing ? he can handle this az he is pm nah..or ???? But Sure he will say mehnuh ki pata sonia madam seh puucho....sikhs riots wala congress leader jagdsih tyler koh bhi clean chit... manmohan singh je hun tah pucho ke kerna...kadho nu tusse kursi shad ne aah lolz
 
SGPC should look after these kind of matters, but they are 2 busy filling their own pockets with collected money. They are our representative, but they are not going to do anything. If you remember, sikhs raised voice against the sikh potryal in *singh is king* too. But what happened, after some editing...they got the approval. But the final product was disaster, sikhs were portrayed as abnormal... completely opposite to the reality.
 

prinzdude

Member
Singh is king was another story, but this time its really bad...

Ah taan hadd hi ho gayi movie banaun waaleya di...

Even a foriegn starcast which has absolutely no connections with India can perform and beat Indians in a story line concerning Sikhs..

Check out the Ocean of Pearls Movie Trailor:

[ame=http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1728523/oceans_of_pearls_trailer/]Oceans of Pearls Trailer - Video

A first time movie director makes a movie which touches one's heart and that too with a foreign star cast and a story line based on sikhism...

In contrast, look at how the experienced film makers of Indian Cinema, who are supposed to know Sikhs better are portraying sikhs as if sikh community is meant for mockery!

Even i will write to Yash raj studios referring them to take some guidence from a First timer in movies... Shame on them!
 

Panjaban

*~DoAbAn~*
Very good points..and for sure bollywood film industry nu aware karwana chahida ke oh kithe galat ne...

But at da same time, mere khyaal naal kise nu kehan toh pehllan saade apne hee lokk dekh lain ke oh app ki kar rahe ne apni jantaa vaaste. Punjabi film industry for example, oh iko story line nu leh ke ture rehnde, har ik movie vich...NRIs de piche paye ne hath dho ke...pyar hogeya, kade munda bahar challeya geya te kade kudi...kade munde de gharde ni mannde te kade kudi de... jaali.
:pop
They need to consider makin films on otha topics, jivein hun bollywood waleya nu keh rahe..why not ohna nu jawab dita jaave but through a movie.. show 'em who sikhs really are.. set an example for them.
 

prinzdude

Member
Very good points..and for sure bollywood film industry nu aware karwana chahida ke oh kithe galat ne...

But at da same time, mere khyaal naal kise nu kehan toh pehllan saade apne hee lokk dekh lain ke oh app ki kar rahe ne apni jantaa vaaste. Punjabi film industry for example, oh iko story line nu leh ke ture rehnde, har ik movie vich...NRIs de piche paye ne hath dho ke...pyar hogeya, kade munda bahar challeya geya te kade kudi...kade munde de gharde ni mannde te kade kudi de... jaali.
:pop
They need to consider makin films on otha topics, jivein hun bollywood waleya nu keh rahe..why not ohna nu jawab dita jaave but through a movie.. show 'em who sikhs really are.. set an example for them.

Sat sri akal movie was made keeping this thing in mind and i guess the next movie by the same team is coming on the topic of Ishmeet Singh very soon..
 
Very good points..and for sure bollywood film industry nu aware karwana chahida ke oh kithe galat ne...

But at da same time, mere khyaal naal kise nu kehan toh pehllan saade apne hee lokk dekh lain ke oh app ki kar rahe ne apni jantaa vaaste. Punjabi film industry for example, oh iko story line nu leh ke ture rehnde, har ik movie vich...NRIs de piche paye ne hath dho ke...pyar hogeya, kade munda bahar challeya geya te kade kudi...kade munde de gharde ni mannde te kade kudi de... jaali.
:pop
They need to consider makin films on otha topics, jivein hun bollywood waleya nu keh rahe..why not ohna nu jawab dita jaave but through a movie.. show 'em who sikhs really are.. set an example for them.

Good point, they have the money & resources to do that. But instead of doing that, every time they brag about how much money is spent on making the movie & request the viewers to watch the movie in theaters. That they do, but what about the content...they should make movie on the meaningful content!
 

snoopy_amli

___I. A. F.___
ok..so Ranbin kapoor is also playing a Sikh corporate..bla bla...God noes what naming Rocket Singh...((what the heck..ROCKET SINGH?? )):k

ok so mr YASH CHOPRA n KARAN JOHAR hav so much love toward Sikh Community...y dont they come out wid a REAL SIKH SARDAR playing the lead role?? ask them...

personally i hate every Yash raj n KARAN JOHAR movie :d..all Bakwas

Movies like A Wednesday shud be made..oops i 4got their fav, Shahrukh can only do RomanTHIC roles :lol
 
bollywood just love money and they don't follow any rule they only reply with the word entertainment when they are pointed..seriously speaking when i first saw the trailer i thought o god if i had the bat i would have trashed her head

i would request everyone who reads this to share everywhere they can and request every1 not to watch it so bollywood should not imitate anymore Sikhs if they don't know what they actually are or they will continue fooling around with more imitations..
 
and people ask me why i dont watch hindi movies anymore?

cuz its pure garbage...which is far away from reality....which has no constructive and positive value.
 

snoopy_amli

___I. A. F.___
^^ Ppl really dont get inspired thru movies.((the candle march at india gate during jessica lal case???..RDB impact :zzz))........ thing is Why cant they have any REAL sardar playing the lead role if they Truly love Punjab So much?????..thers so much talent in Punjab also..y alws Shahrukh????

and more thing ,,y dont they get any south indian, kashmiri, pahadi culture On Display in their films???
 

onlycheema

Banned
Audiences do get inspired definitely. Whole advertising business is based on the message being conveyed by the actors and then their position relevant to the masses. Their is a reason why motion photography exists.
 
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