FilmIndia (Feb-Dec 1949)

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nil, 1949 FILMINDIA Though there was nothing intelligent about the two iginal songs of " Sanwariya " there was nothing obctionable in them either for the Censors to hound out e songs with studied perseverance. In direct contrast to the fanatic censoring of songs " Sanwariya ", we see the disgusting spectacle of indness and indifference in the censoring of " Char Ki aat ", a picture produced by Murli Movietone. In this picture, without any rhyme or reason, the oducer has used Mahatma Gandhi's dead body and his ineral to illustrate a song sung by some school chilen and their teacher. The song itself has nothing hatever to do with the main story of the picture and ahatmaji's physical remains are completely out of ace. By misusing the newsreel shots of a great death to iustrate a silly song, isn't the producer selling the dead )dy of our national saint ticket by ticket? If this is )t hybrid grafting into a story what else is? If this not desecration of a sacred memory what else is? If is is not insulting the physical remains of our nation's ther what else does? Is Bapuji's dead body to be paraded before mil)ns through different pictures for selling tickets for a m producer? Is Bapuji's sacred memory to be turned to a box-office argument? We can understand a newsreel of Mahatma ji's PW» an emotional roJe in " Act re** a social story produced by Filmic tan LuL Raj Kapoor, the light-eyed lover of the screen, plays the lead in " Sunhere Din " produced by Jagat Pictures. funeral being shown in cinemas after his death. There is pathos and sanctity attached to such showings. But to cut the great death into little bits and graft them on putrid commercial pictures for making cheap money is decidedly a filthy and sacrilegious act on the part of a film producer. And to do this with the consent of our national Censors is perhaps the most unholy crime in the life of a free nation. Why are Rajajis, Panditjis and Morarjis shedding ceremonial tears on the hallowed niemory of our national saint if they cannot even protect the sanctity of his death by stopping this mercenary exploitation of his last remains in this filthy and disgraceful manner? Let us have fewer ceremonial prayers and more honesty and national pride in our glorious heritage which is symbolised in the immortal struggle and the peaceful remains of our national saint. If our censors have developed some national pride as free citizens of India and children of the Father of our nation, let them not help to cut his sacred memory into little box-office tickets to increase the bank balance of some mercenary producer. These two illustrations of the two extreme ends of our present censorship demand that the present frog-andstone game must stop and more intelligent and democratic censorship enforced. We are 6ure our appeal will not fall on deaf ears. 5