Regressive: Hansal Mehta on Omar’s criticism of show’s shoot in Assembly

Srinagar, January 13

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta has questioned National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah’s criticism of the Jammu and Kashmir administration for allowing the filming of a show within the Assembly complex, asking him, “Why is it a shame? How does the filming of a drama demean democracy or the ‘mother of democracy’?”

Abdullah, the former chief minister of the erstwhile state of J&K, had on Friday criticised the J&K administration for allowing shooting of Huma Qureshi-starrer ‘Maharani’ inside the assembly complex and called it an “absolute shame”.

Actors deserve respect

Everybody on a film set including actors, background actors (called ‘extras’ by you), are all citizens of this country and have every right to work with dignity and deserve respect and understanding—at least from somebody as educated as yourself. —Hansal Mehta, Director

Advertisement

Mehta, the maker of series like “Scam 1992” and “Scoop”, replied to Abdullah’s post on X, calling it “disrespectful” and “regressive”.

“Everybody on a film set including actors, background actors (called ‘extras’ by you) are all citizens of this country and have every right to work with dignity and deserve respect and understanding—at least from somebody as educated as yourself,” Mehta said.

“In countries around the world, we are given use of public places, government buildings, council halls and the like for shooting. It is because of this unwelcoming attitude that India is considered an unfriendly shooting location and we often prefer shooting abroad. I have great respect for you but this feels very disrespectful, regressive and myopic,” Mehta said.

Omar on Friday said the Assembly was the true face of “the mother of democracy”, where once elected representatives of the people from all parties, religions, backgrounds and parts of J&K legislated on matters of great importance. “Now actors used it as a set for a TV drama,” he said in his post on X.

He said it was a “shame that the BJP driven government in J&K has reduced the symbol of democracy, where they once sat and governed, to this sorry state of affairs”. Abdullah further wrote, “They even have a fake CM coming out of an office I was privileged to occupy for 6 years. What an absolute shame!!!!”

The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly was dissolved by the Governor in 2018. There have been no Assembly elections in J&K which was bifurcated into two Union territories — J&K and Ladakh — on August 5, 2019, after abrogation of Article 370.

Omar has been accusing the ECI of not holding the polls in J&K at the behest of the Union government.

While agreeing with Omar’s view about polls in J&K, Mehta said Omar shouldn’t have adopted a disparaging tone. “We in general have this tendency to look down upon the entertainment industry ignoring all the hard work behind it. “When a senior person like Mr Abdullah equates a film set to a denigration of democracy it gives fuel to people like these who spread vitriol and hate towards the profession,” Mehta said.

Maharani, a Hindi TV series starring Huma Qureshi, was shot inside the Assembly complex in Jammu in June last year. The series is based on political upheavals in Bihar during the 1990s. At that time, the then state Chief Minister, Lalu Prasad, got involved in the infamous fodder scam, forcing him to name his wife, Rabri Devi, as his successor.