Inside Bollywood

With The Iron Lady out in theaters, and conversations sparked about Margaret Thatcher and her controversial politics, it raises questions about our need as voyeurs to dissect and discuss the highs and lows of celebrities, public figures, or just about anyone whose life has managed to create a stir in society

It appears the current subject of curiosity and speculation in the Indian film industry is corporate lobbyist Niira Radia, who was in the news last year for her alleged connection in the 2G spectrum allotment scam.

Of the spate of films dedicated to Radia’s life, the more prominent of the lot stars bollywood villain Ashutosh Rana, and is ironically produced by a Lucknow based Congress Leader, Kush Bhargava. The film, “Monica-the Politics of Murder” is a brazen and blatant attempt to ride the wave of public curiosity towards Radia and her professional dealings.

Director Satchit Puranik, throwing caution and presumably libel charges to the wind is making a film titled “Radia-tion” based Niira Radia and the 2G scam, casting a relatively unknown starlet in the lead role.

In addition to Puranik, Filmmaker V Srinivasan Sundar’s film “100000000000″ (good luck getting audiences to remember that title) about four students who rob 10,000 crores from a powerful female lobbyist aims to capitalize on Radia’s professional likeness.

The question someone needs to ask the filmmakers before they embark on telling their stories is how much of the story do they really know? Filmmaking is about telling a story through the director’s perspective, but what good is it if it appears to be completely one sided.

Are they using news reports and press clippings to do their research? Are they even interested in trying to understand the person or the scandal from all sides, or is… Continue reading →