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Dear Sadharmi Bandhu, Recently released Hollywood film BAD BOYS II is having sacrilegious exhibition of Jain Tirhtankara image. This US film has been produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures are the distributors in India. Renowned Jain scholar Mr. Bal Patil ( E-mail : balpatil@vsnl.com ), Member, Maharashtra State Minorities Commission, Government of Maharashtra & Chairman, Jain Minority Status Committee, Dakshin Bharat Jain Sabha, has taken it very seriously and the distributors Sony Pictures have agreed to remove the objectionable portion from the film. Mr. Bal Patil has informed as under - Already there have been protests from Jain organizations in Maharashtra. In pursuance of a letter of protest and demand for deletion of the objectionable portion to the Collector at Sangli by the Chairman, Dakshin Bharat Jain Sabha, Shri D.A. Patil and my letter as a Jain Member of the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission the portion was removed. Now The Minorities Commission will be taking up the matter for the deletion of the objectionable portion wherever it is exhibited in Maharashtra State. I have created a small clip out of the movie from Columbia Pictures' latest release "Bad boys II" You can download the movie clip by clicking on the following link and then selecting the file tirthankar.wmv. You can save this file on the desktop and then run the same using Windows Media Player http://www.globaljains.com/movie in which there is a sacrilegious and profane exhibition of Jain Tirthankar image with salacious overtones. The film according to a review in www. EmpireMovies.com is: "This has to be one of the most destructive films to come out of Hollywood in the last 5 years. With an almost childlike glee the three set about getting in as much mayhem as you can possibly get into 2 hours and 20 minutes of film. There probably aren't enough adjectives to describe the level of destruction they initiated on the screen …it will be one of the most offensive movies to assault your sensibilities in a long time. In fact, you may very well question the state of humanity with stuff like this being allowed to be thought of, let alone created.” The film also has racist overtones, as per one review: “Numerous stretches of dialogue are composed of unimaginative racist insults.” In the USA too similar action is being taken by the JAINA ( Jain Associations of North America). As I told you the regional Sales Manager of the Sony Pictures Pvt. Ltd. Mr.Mukesh Chawda has replied to my as follows: "Dear Mr. Bal Patil , As per your request and with due respect to the feelings of the peace loving Jain Community , I wish to inform you that we have initiated action with immediate effect for the deletion of the objectionable portion from the prints . This is being done not only in Maharashtra but also all over India where the film is being distributed by us under our control. I trust you would find our action prompt and satisfactory. Regards However, it would be the endeavor of the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission to see that the objectionable portion in the film "Bad Boys 2" is deleted wherever it is exhibited in Maharashtra and steps are being taken to that end. I am attaching a small clip of some of the objectionable portion of the film. With kind regards, Sudhir Jain, --------------------------------------------------------------------- |