Election Commission of India in exercise of power vested in it by virtue of Article 324 of the Constitution, banned the release of the biopic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi till Model Code of Conduct is in force. This move has come a day before the film “PM Narendra Modi” starring Vivek Oberoi, was to be released. Earlier the Supreme Court had dismissed a petition filed by a Congress activist seeking stay on the release of the biopic and had said in its order that the Election Commission would be an “appropriate” place to seek the redressal.
The words used by the EC in its seven page order are: ““Any poster or publicity material concerning any such certified content, which either depicts a candidate (including prospective) for the furtherance (or purported to further) of electoral prospect, directly or indirectly, shall not be put to display in electronic media in the area where MCC is in operation.”
By now every citizen of this country has in some way or the other seen copious advertisements by all political parties in almost all newspapers of this country … were they not for furtherance of electoral prospect? How many videos have been put up on Twitter or Facebook showing the various leaders of various political parties, making speeches or showing off their work? Are Twitter or Facebook not part of the electronic Media? One has lost count of the numerous videos on Whatsapp making the rounds. Does Whatsapp qualify as written Media?
When Mr. Rahul Gandhi makes outrageous promises of giving free doles worth Rs.72,000 pa to certain sections of society, and such promises are repeatedly advertised through various means, is it not an intent to depict the abovementioned candidate for the furtherance of electoral prospect?
So if all the above can be condoned by the Election Commission, why could the film not be allowed? I would like to quote just 2 tweets to give the answer ..
1. https://twitter.com/MnshaP/status/111592550020180377
“Thank god the EC woke up. Meanwhile, on some news channels, @vivekoberoi managed to get away by saying stupid things like ‘if journalists can do their jobs during elections, why can’t I release my film’.” @Mnshap(Manisha Pande)
2. https://twitter.com/SudheenKulkarni/status/1115923251941609473
“Are even senior #BJP leaders so scared that they can’t ask HIM 3 simple Qs? “Pradhan Mantri ji, why did you need a poll-time #ModiBiopic when… 1)Govt has spent ₹5,000+ crore on your publicity in 5 yrs? 2)You’ve spoken #MannKiBaat 50+ times? 3)Are U so unsure of our victory?”” @SudheenKulkarni (Sudheendra Kulkarni)
It is obvious that the entire coterie of journalists who interviewed Mr.Vivek Oberoi and got apt replies from him for trying to put him down, felt out-smarted. Not just that, the bytes were shared on almost all electronic mediums, much to the discomfort of these journalists. Mr. Oberoi won many fans in the process and also, an increased interest in viewing of the film. Just the opposite of what these smarty-pants journalists wanted.
Secondly, almost all poll pundits are signaling a victory for the BJP and Mr. Modi as PM. Despite all the efforts of some agenda driven journalists and the entire Congress Party to portray Mr. Rahul Gandhi as an intelligent, corruption-free, lovable person who is capable of ruling the country, the people of this country are not impressed. The name “Pappu” and the tag of “corrupt family” have stuck and cannot be undone. The Mahaghatbandhan too have not succeeded in naming a credible person as an alternative for the post of the Prime Minister. So, they have decided to pray thus, “Lord, if you can’t make me thin, make others fat” ie. if Mr. Rahul Gandhi cannot be portrayed as non-corrupt or intelligent, portray Mr. Narendra Modi as corrupt or narcissistic.
So in short, Mr. Vivek Oberoi faces problems because of 2 reasons –
1. He was smart and intelligent in replying to agenda driven questions.
2. The character he portrays is smart and intelligent naturally.
Either way, he has a whole eco-system on one side waiting for him to fail. On the other side, he has crores of fans of himself and Mr. Modi, waiting to see the film. The ban may be temporary, but the probability of the success of the film and Mr. Modi as PM, seem to be very high. And yes, both will have long-lasting effects.
Discussion about this post