Nehru-Edwina saga put off under govt pressure
thanks to Rocky..
LINK
Indian Summer, the much-hyped Hollywood project about the alleged romance between Edwina Mountbatten and Jawaharlal Nehru, has been cancelled with the director blaming the wrangling between the Indian government and the studio as the reason. Universal Pictures has put the film, which was to go on the floor in India early next year, on hold, ‘Variety’ magazine online reported.
“We were in between a rock and a hard place. The Indian government wanted us to make less of the love story while the studio wanted us to make more of the love story,” said director Joe Wright.
Starring Hugh Grant and Kate Blanchett as Lord and Edwina Mountbatten, the film was troubled from the start after the Indian government voiced concerns over the plot, which focused on Edwina’s romance with the country’s first Prime Minister.
Officials demanded copy approval of the script and eventually gave the film the green light, but the project continued to be plagued by money problems, with bosses at Universal reportedly fretting over the estimated USD 30-40
million costs.
SATYAMSHOT 
October 21, 2009 at 11:50 AM
Can’t say I really care about this development. Would have been interesting, maybe, but Wright’s not a great director and these period romantics tend to groan along. Ah well.
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October 21, 2009 at 5:34 PM
I really think you SHOULD care. It doesn’t matter whether you cared for the project itself. If the project is shelved because the govt wants to change the script just to show Nehru in a better light, then that is really a bigger issue than the project itself.
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October 21, 2009 at 5:47 PM
Where did I say I didn’t care about the issue? Let’s leave this potential film aside. India has had a history (where its govt or otherwise) of trying to stifle truth telling in its cinema. It’s not something I’m ever apathetic about and it’s hugely frustrating for filmmakers who are actually trying to do some good and for an audience deprived of truths in more than just factual, historical terms.
But do I care that we’re not going to get to see another Joe Wright yawnfest? No.
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October 21, 2009 at 5:50 PM
I concur. I don’t think there should be any censorship when it comes to proven facts. If the facts can be proven and backed up then they should be part of any true biographical book or movie done on a public figure. People have to recognise that everyone makes mistakes, errs, has shortcomings, and falters in life even great political icons. Everyone is just human at the end of the day. Showcasing the virtues along with the shortcomings of public figures just shows their humanity. No one is perfect, but a person’s shortcomings or flaws does not negate or change all of their virtues and all of the great important things they have done for society. The legacy for good will always remain so no need for such intense censorship.
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October 21, 2009 at 6:03 PM
You raise a good point. But I wonder if a British movie about Mountbatten will show his numerous shortcomings as well as Nehru’s own issues? Mountbatten has pretty much been canonized by the British (especially the Royal family) after his death.
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October 21, 2009 at 7:12 PM
Good question Tyler. I’m certain the British monarchy and government may indeed try to whitewash Mountbatten’s flaws, shortcomings, etc. which would be wrong headed and hypocritical. If this movie is made then it should be fair to both Nehru and Mountbatten’s legacies. Both men were flawed with shortcomings while also maintaining good virtues and doing some great things for their countries. And this should be shown. There should be no one-sided story telling of history that can be factually proven. But this rarely happens.
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October 21, 2009 at 2:19 PM
Yeah the film seemed mediocre — especially given there is nothing new here as everyone already knows about the relationship (the dispute is whether the two ever had a sexual relationship; no one disputes that an affair existed). BUT the whole thing is offensive because of the air of censorship and government bullying involved. India would honor Nehru’s memory better by not interfering with such films.
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October 21, 2009 at 5:38 PM
I don’t know about you Qalandar, but I actually thought Joe Wright did really well in Atonement. More importantly, I don’t see why something that is ‘already known’ must necessarily mean mediocre. That is like saying “oh, but everyone knows the story of the Godfather, so the movie can’t give us anything new”. You sound like my mom, actually. 🙂 According to her, if someone tells you the summary of a movie’s story then you have as good as seen it already! I find it hilarious when she keeps doing her household chores while a movie is playing on the TV – she only sees maybe 40% of the movie and insists that she saw the movie!! 😀
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October 21, 2009 at 6:08 PM
I must say I found Atonement a bit of a bore.. liked the book though..
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October 22, 2009 at 3:45 AM
agree!
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October 21, 2009 at 4:13 PM
Dream Cast-
Aamir= Lord
Katrina- Edwina
SRK- Nehru
Naseer- Gandhi
Paresh- Patel
Irfaan- Jinnah
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October 21, 2009 at 4:20 PM
Is this a dream cast or a sick joke?!
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October 21, 2009 at 4:24 PM
was expecting this from you ! LOL !!
Akhshay Kumar can play – Godse and Hritik can play- Maulana Azad
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October 21, 2009 at 4:50 PM
I can never forgive you for suggesting SRK should play Nehru. Now I know the extent to which you hate Nehru LOL!
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October 21, 2009 at 5:07 PM
LOL!
remember SRK in his Achkan in Hey Baby with his Dimples- Perfect for Chacha Nehry jee’s role!!!
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October 21, 2009 at 5:09 PM
FYI Q- I have provided a link to a pretty good writeup in the KPS Gill thread.
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October 21, 2009 at 5:51 PM
SRK should be Jinnah and Irfan Nehru.
You have to find a role for Tom Alter somewhere!
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October 21, 2009 at 4:20 PM
music- ARR
lyrics- Gulzar
Narrator- Amitabh Bachchan
ROFLOL!!
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October 22, 2009 at 3:47 AM
LOL!!!! My pick for Godse would be Nana! Not many are aware, but when Kamal originally wrote HEY RAM he had a prominent role for Nana who would enact Nathuram Godse, the scenes were later cut from the version he directed!
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October 22, 2009 at 11:15 AM
I did not know that Praz, would have really been interesting to see Nana as Godse.
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October 21, 2009 at 5:08 PM
Apparently this film has been put on the shelf anyway, for exceeding its budget (originally it was supposed to be $30 million, now it looked like between $30-40 million).
http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=26093
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October 21, 2009 at 7:01 PM
Good piece HERE.
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October 21, 2009 at 7:59 PM
Just finished reading Tariq Ali’s THE NEHRU’s AND THE GANDHI’s..what an amazing book!
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October 22, 2009 at 6:36 AM
Step in Ashutosh – this is your territory. It’s a book, it’s a period drama and it’s slow. Perfect Bollywood setup for Gowarikar.
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October 22, 2009 at 10:58 AM
LOL
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October 22, 2009 at 10:30 AM
The truth is, Gandhi is less of a draw than Jinnah- M.J. Akbar
The secular parties, whose expertise in the dynamics of electoral behaviour has always been more astute, quickly understood that fear is the easiest route to the Indian Muslim vote. Fear of the past, Partition, was compounded by fear of its future consequences. Muslims had to choose between the communal cage and the secular trap. One offered a diet of gruel, and the other a scrap of cheese. After six decades, Indian Muslims are beginning to bang on the door of both the cage and the trap.
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/TheSiegeWithin/entry/the-truth-is-gandhi-is
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November 29, 2009 at 8:01 PM
Oops1:
Sorrrry i can’t open a new topic so i will say it here. A few month earlier, i talked about a movie dealing with the love story of Jawaharlal Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten played by Kate Blanchett.
I found a french article saying that the indian gov censored the script to erase every trace of their “affair”. Even the world “love” have been dismissed totally ! Incredible, it’s a shame ! Not because they are attacking the freedom of speech of the director, but because love is basically the only reason why people would turn up to see the film. Can y’all imagine Blanchett doing nothing if they choose Hrithik to play Nehru ? It’s gonna be a Scifi flick !
(sorry the link is in french)
http://www.rue89.com/2009/10/27/quand-le-gouvernement-indien-censure-lhistoire-damour-de-nehru-123360
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November 29, 2009 at 8:03 PM
thanks for this link Oops1.. it confirms what actually happened here..
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November 29, 2009 at 8:18 PM
They are little late. They should have tried to make one under Vajpayee or Desai Government 🙂
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