Censors ban Ramu's anthem

Banned by the Censor Board, Ram Gopal Varma says his modified Jana Gana Mana retains the dignity of India's anthem.

The song is being used in the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Rann and contains lines like "Jana Gana Mana Rann Hai" and "Is Desh ne humko ek kiya, hum desh ki tukdey kar rahein hai" before the line "Dravid Utkal Banga."

It also has "Vindhya Himachal Yamuna Ganga" followed by "mein tezaab ubal raha hai." But Ramu says the song is alright and that "everyone can see the dignity with which it has been treated.

The Censor Board saw it differently and has held the song's release.

"The Censor Board reviewed the film's promo on Friday and decided to refuse permission under guideline 219 of Section 5 (b)2 of Cinematograph Act as well as Prevention of insult to National Honour Act 1971," Vijaya Chawak, secretary to the CBFC chairperson Sharmila Tagore said. She added that the anthem could not be modified in any way. Ramu's song also has the line "Bharat ko bacha le vidhaata!" instead of "Bharat bhagya vidhaata."

The plot of Rann revolves around a media tycoon who owns a television network (Big B) and his understudy played by Riteish Deshmukh. Ramu and Ritiesh had got into trouble when they accompanied Deshmukh's father Vilasrao to the Taj Mahal hotel after the November attacks. Dubbed 'terror tourism' Vilasrao lost his job because of ensuing coverage.

About Rann, the director said that the word means war and in the context of civil society large organized forces, like news channels, political parties and industrial czars, were involved in a fight with each other. "If dog bites man, it is not news. But if man bites dog, it is news. And if a cat bites a dog, it’s Breaking News," said Ramu. The sensationalism of news television is going to be the target of his movie.

But for now, the hard-hitting song that spearheads his message has been put in the freezer.