More touble for Salman’s Veer

Salman Khan’s Veer is in trouble yet again. An FIR has been lodged against the crew in Bikaner for cutting down tress, transporting and utilising them for shooting the film. It has been alleged that the film crew did so without appropriate permissions from the concerned authorities. What’s more, these trees belong to the Khejri species which is the state tree of Rajasthan.

The Bishnoi tribe which worships this particular species of tree is furious with the film crew. In an FIR lodged in Gajner Police Station in Bikaner, some people of this tribe have requested strict action against the members of the unit who ordered the cutting down of tress.

The chief conservator officer of Bikaner, S.S. Choudhary told NDTV, “The Bishnoi community wants action to be taken against some of the members of the film unit because they have indulged in illegal action of transporting Khejri tress for shooting purpose. Once they came to know that Khejri trees were cut down and transported for various purposes for the film, they rushed to the police station and lodged an FIR. They want immediate action against the film crew. Fortunately for the film crew, it’s a compoundable offence. So they will have to pay some penalty if charges are proven against them.”

The Gajner Police station in Bikaner confirmed the FIR and said, “Yes, there is an FIR lodged under section 41 and 42 of the Rajasthan Forest Act under which transporting Khejri tree is an offence.”

On the other hand Vijay Galani, producer of the film, denied having any such information. He said, “At the moment I am near Jodhpur and I am shooting for my film Veer. In my knowledge, neither have we cut down any tress illegally nor is there any FIR lodged anywhere in the state. People are saying all these things without any basis. Till now, we haven’t received any communication from any police station about the FIR or any complain against the film crew.”

Galani might not have been informed about the FIR till now but it s not the first time that Veer has got into trouble. Just a few days ago, it was mired in controversy when the Rajasthan High Court stayed the shooting in Amber Fort because of an accident which injured around 15 people. Later, the court allowed the shooting on the condition that the producer will pay a compensation  of Rs 20 lakhs to the state government for the damage to the historic structure and compensation to the onlookers injured.

Bollywood’s first view of the Fire Temple

Be it films of the bygone eras, or the hip and trendy NRI movies that rule Bollywood today. The one common strain so far has been repeated images of places of worship, especially  hindu temples.

Sooni Tarporiwala’s Little Zizou is on its way to becoming the first film that has an entire sequence inside the Parsi Fire Temple. Since shooting inside the temple is not allowed, Tarporivala had to recreate it on a set.

Tarporivala said, “Though we have extensively shot in baugs (colonies), in and around Mumbai, we didn’t get permission to shoot in the fire temple. Shooting inside the temple is not allowed. So we had to create a set that was representative of fire temple. Luckily, both the people in the shot, Boman Irani and Zenobia Pressvala, were Parsi and they could perform the puja. So the entire ceremony and prayers were authentic.”

It may not be the original, but this may be the closest non-Parsis can get to the Fire Temple.