"I was asked to cut very silly things in Tamil. And because of that they were cut in Hindi too. Rakhi Sawant and Moon Moon play the sutradhar. They aren't there for mere titillation. Yeah, they are in skimpy clothes. Is that such a shocker in our films. They play two sisters called Greed and Lust who live in the biggest slum of Asia. The censors asked me to cut that whole sequence. They refused to admit it was because I called Mumbai a slum.
"They said it was because the two girls were so bare it was unbearable. That isn't fair. They were dressed like circus trapeze girls. 'Mumbai Xpress' is a family film. I was aware of my target audience when I cast the two ladies. The camera doesn't linger on their body parts. They cut the whole song."
The furious filmmaker says he is going to reapply for a censor certificate and talk to censor chief Sharmila Tagore about it. "This is an infringement of my rights. Rakhi Sawant and Moon Moon wouldn't have put the mobs in a frenzy."
There's trouble brewing in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha's domain too.
Explains the harried producer-actor, "The agitators in Chennai want me to change the title. They don't want an English word in my film's title! Arrey, what about the fact that there are so many trains with the word 'Express' in them? And should the Indian Express change its name to something more palatable to these so-called agitators? I was putting up a brave front. But finally I had to put my foot down."
Apparently Kamal Haasan had an emergency meeting with Jayalalitha. She has assured him that the film's release won't be hampered in any way.
Says the actor, "She has told me that anyone indulging in protests against the film's title would be considered a menace to the law and order situation. I thought that settled it. But now they've stayed defacing my vinyl hoardings of 'Mumbai Xpress' in Chennai and its outskirts. We lost about Rs.300,000 worth of vinyl.
"What they did was threaten the theatres scheduled to screen 'Mumbai Xpress' from tomorrow. They're interfering with the business side of my film! They've literally torn the screens of some theatres which have been stitched back in time. We've 120 theatres in and around Chennai to protect. The chief minister's office has sent out messages to alert all stations.
"I'd like to point out to these agitators that even our beloved leader MGR's acronym is in English. Our CM has asked my boys from the fan clubs to hold their horses, to not
retaliate... Now I hear the leader of the 'Tamil Cheetah' group has issued a statement that my film's title is a non-issue. Delayed realisation. I could've shaken hands with long
ago. I've a longer arm." Ironically, arch-rival Rajnikant is also releasing his new Tamil film "Chandramukhi" with Kamal Haasan.
"And why should that be a bother?" retorts Kamal Haasan. "Sure it's the first time in 14 years that we're coming together with our movies. But earlier on we've clashed at the box office at least 13 times. It's nothing new. MGR and Sivaji Ganesan used to be involved in such clashes all the times. Later it was us. I hope both our films do well. 'Chandramukhi' and 'Mumbai Xpress' are as different as Kamal Haasan and Rajnikant."
