A Tabu subject?

The controversy surrounding Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen has spelt big bucks for her publishers and booksellers; demand for her books - Lajja (Shame) and her autobiography, Dwikhandita (Split in Two)- has skyrocketed. Bollywood, too, is keen to make hay while the sun shines. The latest is that UTV is making a film on Nasreen.

Details have been finalised rather quickly. Tabu has already been roped in to play Nasreen. A source close to UTV says, “UTV thinks that Tabu will suit the role very well. The film will go on the floors next year. It will be a biopic.”

In full filmi style, a love angle will also be added to the film. “Yes, there will be a love angle to spice up things. We have done a lot of research on her life before taking the decision to make a film on her life,” our source reveals.

When contacted, Ram Mirchandani (Executive VP, UTV Motion Pictures) said, “Right now, I am not in a position to talk about it. But yes, Taslima Nasreen’s story has tremendous global appeal and needs to be told. “
To hash a loose chronology of events: Nasreen fled Bangladesh for the first time in ‘94 when a court said she had deliberately and maliciously hurt Muslims’ sentiments by her novel Lajja which is about Hindu-Muslim riots. At that time, thousands of radical Muslims protested against her, demanding that she be killed for blasphemy. Not so long ago, Nasreen was in Kolkata. Muslim clerics in Kolkata issued a death warrant against her, threatening to take her life if she did not leave the country. The threat came after a meeting of clerics from prominent mosques in Kolkata who said that Nasreen had invited their wrath through her repeated criticism of Islam in her books and speeches. Thereafter, Nasreen was shifted to Jaipur. She did not stay long in Jaipur because the media there hounded her. At present, she is in an undisclosed location in or around Delhi.

Tabu remained unavailable for comment.

Source: mumbaimirror.com