Varma sent 'Rann' song to 500 MPs

Mumbai, May 26 (IANS) Ram Gopal Varma and his co-producers Madhu Mantena and Sheetal Talwar had prepared CDs of the controversial "Jana gana mana Rann" song from "Rann" and sent them off to 500 MPs before the case came up for hearing in the Supreme Court.

"We did this so that the people who lead the country would have a clear idea of what we've done. See, it's easy to believe hearsay, and fall for malicious attempts to prove that we've played around with the national anthem. Protest in our country is always based on ignorance. We wanted to change that," said Mantena.

"This is not meant to influence the judiciary, only to ensure that no one gets the wrong picture," added Mantena.

But the Supreme Court Monday disapproved of the controversial song, saying nobody has the right to tinker with the national anthem.

"We have read it (the script of the song). It gives a total negative sense. It appears that every line of the national anthem has been proved wrong," said a vacation bench of Justice V.S. Sirpurkar and Justice R.M. Lod.

The bench denied any prompt legal relief to Varma against the May 8 order of the Central Film Certification Board, which said it would not clear the film unless the song was taken out.

The judges told him to first approach the appellate tribunal, set up under the Cinematography Act, 1952, to challenge the board's decision.

The "Rann" publicity machinery claims the film will be released on Gandhi Jayanti, but the inside information is otherwise.

"The October 2 release date was Ram Gopal Varma's attempt to be as defiant and politically incorrect as possible. We've not fixed a release date for 'Rann'," said a source.

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