I already did a news post today, but thanks to the time difference, my morning (in America) post only caught the stuff from yesterday (in India), so now I need another one of the things that just happened!

The biggest story is that Udta Punjab is getting seriously hassled by the censors.  Latest word is, they have to remove all references to Punjab.  Making it, first of all, just “Udta“.  So, what, all the posters have to be blacked out?  We are all going to forget the original title and believe it is just about some unknown fictional place because the censor’s will wave their magic wands?

For me, beyond this particular film, the big story is that the censor board is way way crossing the line, beyond what they have done in years, the film industry is fighting back as best it can, through words of support and one voice of protest.  This is what I talk about in my book, why the industry is so tight, and trusts people based on word of mouth and handshake deals.  They are constantly under attack, so there is a certain level of trust and loyalty within the industry that you don’t really see in film industries in other countries, or even in other industries within India.

And the other big story is, what is actually happening in the Punjab that this film is trying to show, and being prevented from showing?  Hindustan Times did a great breakdown of what the drug problem really is, and how it is being miss-interpreted.

In 2012, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the Punjab had a “70%” drug problem.  In February, the Chief Minister of the state, who’s party is against the release of the film, claimed that only “0.06%” of the population of the state was found to use drugs.  But actually, from what the Hindustan Times came up with, both figures are wrong.

First, the 70% came from a flip in how the sentence should be read.  It’s not “70% of youth are drug users”, it’s “70% of drug users are youth”.  The real figure was only 0.85%.  Which is still higher than the national, and international average.  And that only covers opiate based drug use, not other kinds of drugs, including prescription drugs which are a major part of the problem.  And it only covers addicts, if you look at “users”, then the percentage goes up to 4.5% of the adult population.  But the biggest take-away is simply that there is a problem in the state with drugs, a bigger problem than the national average, and there should probably be more done about it than simply censoring a movie.

So, that’s the movie that may not be coming out, what about the movie that is?  Mahenjo Daro!  A new first look image popped out!

Did not realise they had hair gel and electric shavers in 2500 BCE!  This movie has so much to teach us.