The BJP, already reeling under a series of organisational crises, has landed in further trouble: it could just be sued for video piracy. In order to keep its Rajasthan MLAs, allegedly locked up at a resort near Jaipur on the eve of Thursday’s Rajya Sabha election, is reasonably good spirits, senior BJP leaders reportedly organised a video show of Prakash Jha’s recently-released political thriller Raajneeti.
The catch: since a video of Jha’s new film is yet to be released, what was shown to the MLAs must have been an illegal, pirated version.
Director Prakash Jha is livid, and is determined to take legal action against the BJP and the resort management. Speaking to this newspaper from Patna, a furious Jha said he had already asked his lawyers in Mumbai to initiate action for legal measures. “Nothing preventive can be done now,” he said.
The filmmaker, saying he was “aghast” and “furious”, wondered how “lawmakers” from the country’s principal Opposition party could encourage such illegal activity. He added: “And then you are asking for my reaction!”
A court complaint was, meanwhile, filed on Wednesday against some Rajasthan BJP MLAs for watching a pirated version of the film.
When contacted after several attempts, BJP spokesman and senior party leader Shahnawaz Hussain put the entire onus on the resort’s management. “The film must have been organised by the hotel management. The MLAs did not even know what film was going to be shown.” Mr Hussain declined to say anything further to this.
Senior BJP leaders, who had lured the MLAs to the resort on the pretext of “training them on how to cast Rajya Sabha votes”, were also present when the Prakash Jha film was shown. Party general secretary and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje was among those perched on a sofa with the MLAs to watch the movie.
The filmmaker added: “What would your reaction be if you are a filmmaker? ... My lawyers in Mumbai are taking the necessary steps. They will contact the hotel management and find out details. I am proceeding with the issue.” He went on to lament: “How can you be happy if such things keep happening.”
A study by the Television and Film Producers Guild has claimed that the Rs 3,00-crore Hindi film industry loses almost Rs 1,000 crores every year. Some time ago, incidentally, the then BJP-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka had proposed inclusion of video piracy in the list of offences while planning an amendment to the Anti-Goonda Act.