India censor head defends Modi video

• 19 November 2015
• From the section India

India’s film watchdog chief Pahlaj Nihalani has responded to ridicule over a music video he made, which glorifies prime minister Narendra Modi.

The song, titled Mera Desh Hai Mahaan, which translates from the Hindi as “My country is great” is nearly seven minutes long, and shows among other things, delighted schoolchildren spotting Mr Modi sitting on a snow capped mountain in a lotus pose.

Mr Nihalani’s efforts were termed “so bad it’s good” by the DNA newspaper, while the Hindustan Times called it a “cringe fest”.

He was also criticised for seemingly comparing Mr Modi with Mahatma Gandhi, a charge that he has denied.

“I have said [in the film] that the dream Gandhi had seen…it’s film language. Gandhi had the dream of making India clean and Modi is fulfilling that dream,” he told BBC Hindi’s Vineet Khare.

“The dream has to be fulfilled with cooperation from everyone. People who think I have made comparisons do not want to see the country’s progress,” he added.

But a comparison to Mahatma Gandhi is not the only issue that Indians have with the song.

The film also shows shots of skyscrapers, modern motorways and space shuttles to “showcase India’s development”.

Social media users were quick to point out however, that many of those were not even Indian.

Mr Nihalani, who was appointed the head of the Central Board of Film Certification of India in January this year, said the use of these shots was deliberate.

“There are 160 shots in the film. Only five shots show what India’s future would look like. Every filmmaker has visual imagination…what the big deal in that?” he asked.

“I have shown an India of the future,” he added.