What began with talks about the construction of a 67-feet Charlie Chaplin statue in Udipi district in Karnataka by the crew of a film unit has escalated into a major issue with members of the Bajrang Dal threatening to destroy the statue if it’s constructed. Now, to counter the Bajran Dal threats Hemanth Hedge, the film-maker, has decided to organise a protest rally.
Hemanth says, “We thought of constructing a permanent statue of Charlie Chaplin. It would have been the biggest Charlie Chaplin statue. We had all the permissions in place and yet people from Bajrang Dal had issues.”
The statue was supposed to be constructed for filming two songs sequences for Mumbai-based Maverick Productions’ Kannada film Housefull. Members of the Bajrang Dal said Charlie was a ‘Christian’ and so the statue cannot be constructed close to the Someshwara temple. Later on it was found out that the temple was as far as 600 yards away from the spot where the unit had decided to construct the statue. So it would not have caused any kind of obstruction for people entering the temple.
However, what made Hemanth seethe with anger was that even when he told the Bajrang Dal men that he would not construct the statue near the temple, they kept on threatening him. Hemant says, “They threatened us saying they’ll demolish the statue wherever it is constructed in Karnataka.”
An angry Hemanth says, “We have made a memorandum addressed to the Governor for not encouraging art and culture. We’ve organised a quiet rally. We’ll walk with placards with picture of Charlie Chaplin with the words ‘Which caste do I belong to?’” The rally will take place on March 20 in Bengaluru. Big guns of Kannada film industry like National award-winning director Girish Kasaravalli, theatre veteran Girish Karnad and Jnanpith award-winning writer UR Ananthamurthy will take part.
