January 22nd, 2009
Bipasha Basu’s portrayal of an abaya-wearing Muslim on the silver screen has raised the hackles of a firebrand woman activist in Kashmir.
Aasiya Indrabi is suing the makers of Lamhaa, a movie about the lives of Kashmiri separatists fighting Indian rule, when she discovered Basu had been cast to play her character.
Outrage
As if that was not enough, she even got some activists to deface billboards showing revealing pictures of other actresses.
Indrabi heads Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of the Nation), an organisation which campaigns against social evils. The mother of two observes strict purdah and wears an abaya in public.
When she read reports suggesting that Basu would enact her character in Lamhaa, she decided to press charges.
“I don’t want to see my character played by a woman like Bipasha Basu who prefers to be semi-nude most of the times. She might be glamorous but she is an undignified woman and is part of the immorality-spreading industry – Bollywood. I am a religious woman who observes purdah and refrains from evil deeds. More importantly, I am the only Aasiya Indrabi on earth, so let there be just one,” she was quoted as saying in a report.
Indrabi says that director Rahul Dholakia (Parzania) has reneged on his earlier promise to show her a copy of the script before shooting it.
No resemblance
But Dholakia has refuted allegations that Bipasha would be playing the Kashmiri activist. “Let me make it clear that Bipasha Basu is not playing Aasiya Indrabi. In fact, none of the characters in the movie bear any resemblance to any person living,” Dholakia said.
