In a swift move that has taken the entire film industry by surprise, firebrand Rakhi Sawant and singer-composer-lyricist ishQ Bector, have gone ahead and taken legal action on the industry’s regulatory body, the Censor Board.

Recently, the Board passed a diktat that the word ‘kamine’ be deleted or bleeped out from the mukhda (opening verse) of ‘Bhoot’; Rakhi and ishQ’s latest video from their album titled ‘Jhagde’, released by Pen Music.

Challenging the Censors’ decision, the duo, who are also the producers of the album, have sent a Show Cause Notice to the Board.

“The Censors clearly have double standards,” shoots Rakhi. “When they can pass an entire film called ‘Kaminey’, what sense does it make to delete the word ‘kamine’ from our video, and that too, without giving us any reason whatsoever,” she fumes.

The mukhda of the song goes ‘Kamine tera bhoot chad gaya re.’ “But after the word being bleeped out, our song looks completely disjointed. This has killed its impact and sabotaged our album sales,” says ishQ, who has also written the lyrics.

“Apart from the UTV movie by the same name, the word ‘kamine’, having the same interpretation and meaning, has been passed by the Board in umpteen films before,” he stresses.

Strangely, the Board has passed the ‘promos’ of the number containing the mukhda, without any cuts, while censoring the word only in the ‘video’. “Does the Censor Board have different norms for films, videos and promos? Or is it that we are being singled out just because we are smaller producers?” questions ishQ.

“The Censors are not only being unjust and biased, they are making a mockery of morality,” adds Rakhi.

The duo’s advocate Rizwan Siddiquee says, “No act of commission or omission on the part of the Censor Board, or any officer representing it, should be arbitrary, unjust or in manner be biased or sexist. The Board needs to fully understand that its acts could willfully prejudice the fundamental rights of an aggrieved party and therefore it should act accordingly.”

This is surely not the first instance the Censor Board has come under such criticism. From time to time, many producers have lamented about its arbitrary acts and calls for random cuts. Though not many have dared to actually go ahead with legal action, which makes it worth watching, how the Censor Board will react or counter Rakhi and ishQ’s charges.

To see the controversial video, click here:

http://dalebhagwagarmediagroup.blogspot.com/2010/01/bhoot-video-ishq-bector-and-rakhi.html

When desi firebrand Rakhi Sawant collaborated with India’s mad-max music import from Canada ishQ Bector, the duo had hardly realized the trouble they’d fall into.

Their album titled ‘Jhagde’ has been in the news for some reason or the other, including a public spat the duo had at the launch event of their second video ‘Bhoot’, last week.

But what has hit them now, is far too serious than tiffs and spats! The Censor Board has blown the daylights out of Rakhi and ishQ, with a diktat that they need to delete or bleep out the word ‘kamine’ from the mukhda (opening verse) of their video.

The words of the song go “Kamine tera bhoot chad gaya re”. But Rakhi’s already singing a new tune. “This is cruelty. The Censor Board needs brain surgery,” she shoots, and in her trademark style, breaks into a ‘modified’ song, “Censor Board tera bhoot chad gaya re”.

While Rakhi is taking a straight dig at the Board, ishQ, who has written the lyrics, apart from singing and composing the album, is furious too. “The word ‘kamine’ has been passed so many times in umpteen films earlier. What’s the point of banning it now,” he justifies.

“The Censor Board has been ordering such frivolous cuts too often in our industry, but this time, we will not take things lying down. If need be, we will garner public support and land up at their office to protest,” he threatens.

Gosh! The crazy way this is going, it seems, the real ‘jhagde’ have just begun.

True to the title of their new music album ‘Jhagde’, the catty Rakhi Sawant and the wacky singer-composer-lyricist ishQ Bector, got embroiled in a strange spat on stage, this week.

During the launch of their second video titled ‘Bhoot”, Rakhi and ishQ began an impromptu conversation to entertain the cheering crowd at a packed shopping mall in Mumbai.

All was well, till Rakhi urged the public “to buy original CDs,” while ishQ, popularly known as India’s mad-max music import from Canada, retorted, “love is free – music should be free too. Even if you have to resort to piracy on the Internet, make sure you listen to, and share the songs.”

This began an argument between them. Initially, people thought the dramatic tiff was being staged to create hype for the album. But when it started going out of hand, it dawned upon everyone, the spat was happening for real.

Soon, the unintentional tiff got out of hand, while the audiences enjoyed every bit of the public display of emotions and ethics. It is only when Rakhi and ishQ got off the stage, is when they realized the absurdity and futility of their public ‘jhagde’.

Luckily, without creating more fuss, they whispered some sweet-nothings, hugged and made-up, as the officials from Pen Music, who released the album, heaved a sigh of relief.