Did distributors spread anti-Hrithik stories in Nepal?

Komal Nahta

So what sparked off the Hrithik controversy in Nepal?

Now that it is known that Hrithik Roshan never uttered a word against either Nepal or the Nepalese on television or any other interview, how did his name get dragged into the controversy which claimed seven lives in Nepal and threatens the G P Koirala government?

One theory claims it is the handiwork of some distributors of Indian films who also produce Nepalese films. It was their intention, so say champions of this theory, to disturb the smooth running of Hindi films in Nepal. This would help boost the business of Nepali films, these distributors thought.

The apparent reason why the alleged troublemakers wanted to disrupt the screening of Hindi films is that they have not succeeded in bagging the distribution rights of some coveted films of late, including the Hrithik-starrer Mission Kashmir.

Nepal distributors decided recently that none of them would pay more than Rs 15 lakhs (Rs 1.5 million) for any Hindi film.

A few months ago, the Nepal Motion Picture Association resolved that producers should sell distribution rights of their films for the Nepal territory directly to Nepal distributors instead of selling them to Bihar distributors, who then either sell the same to Nepal distributors or release the films in Nepal themselves, which is the usual practice.

This, says a Bihar distributor wishing to remain anonymous, was done with a view to keep Indians out of the Nepal territory.

A handful of people, it is alleged, instigated a group of gullible students to launch a tirade against Hrithik.

It is coincidence that it happened to be Hrithik; it could have been any other Bollywood star.

Another theory has it that Hrithik was targetted intentionally so that the screening of Mission Kashmir could be disrupted.

In any case, this is how events apparently unfolded: Simi Garewal's interview with Hrithik is aired on the Star Plus television channel. Seeing this as a godsent opportunity to create a controversy over Hindi films in Nepal, a disgruntled group of local distributors instigated some students in Chitwan.

The youth march to a local newspaper, the Chitwan Post, and demand that their condemnation of Hrithik's anti-Nepal statements on the Simi show be published. The newspaper editor refuses, saying he would rather wait and see if more people felt that way.

The next day, the students set afire to a Hrithik effigy and send Chitwan Post a press release along with a picture. The paper publishes the statement in its December 15 edition.

On reading the news, the president of an all-Nepal students union issues a statement in Biratnagar, condemning Hrithik's alleged remarks and calls for a boycott of the actor's films.

The situation worsens when said secretary repeats the statement in Kathmandu.

The statement is reported in all major Kathmandu newspapers on December 25. The next day, angry mobs take to the streets of Kathmandu and threaten to burn down the Gopi Kishan cinema, owned by Udhab Paudwal, which is screening Mission Kashmir.

The issue snowballs into a national crisis and refuses to die down even after the student leader admits to not having seen Hrithik's interview.

Hrithik's denial fails to reach out to the angry masses as the largest cable network in Nepal has, by then, halted the telecast of Indian channels.

Nepal's newspapers, however, carry an apology attributed to Hrithik. The violence continues unabated on December 27 as the protestors clash with the police and block streets with burning tyres and trees.

The public ire then turns on the Indian community and the State Bank of India's Kathmandu office sees its windows pelted with stones. Kathmandu witnesses unprecedented violence. All work comes to a standstill as several political parties call for a strike on December 28.

The government is endangered as nearly half the 113 Nepalese Congress MPs move a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Koirala.

Meanwhile, reports state that Raju Chacha has not been sold in Nepal as a powerful lobby of distributors spread word a few weeks ago that nobody should pay more than Rs 10 lakhs (Rs 1 million) for its distribution rights.

Khiladi 420, the other release of this week, opened in the Terai region of Nepal on December 29, but not in Kathmandu.

All Hindi film screenings in the capital have been suspended.