Vipul Shah’s blackmailer runs for cover

Film-maker Vipul Shah is finally heaving a sigh of relief. A man who was threatening and blackmailing him for a few days turned out to be a bogus activist.

A few days ago, Shah had claimed that he had got threat calls from members of a hardliner Hindu political party over the use of hanuman chalisa as a rock song in one of his forthcoming films. This caused a flurry in Mumbai police circles. Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria even called up Shah to enquire about his safety. But Shah chose not to file a complaint because the identity of the person was not established and he didn’t want to lodge a police complaint against a political party.

Shah says, “Every time the man called, he claimed that he was calling on behalf of the party and that he would take action against me if I didn’t drop the song.”
Finally, when Shah told the caller that he was prepared to take him head on, the man’s tone changed.

“He said that he was willing for an out-of-court settlement and that he is doing it to help me. I told him that I didn’t need his help and that he can do anything that he wants. The calls stopped after that. In fact, for the last two days, I haven’t received any calls,” said Shah.

He feels it has become the norm for producers to be threatened just before the release of a film just to extract some money from them. “Cases are just filed for the heck of it and to extract money from us. Though sometimes there is a genuine grievance against the film, in most other cases the motivation is just money and nothing else. This trend must be stopped,” said Shah.