April 27, 1998

But Culture Minister Pramod Navalkar's latest order is in keeping with his image of Mumbai's moral inspector.

By Robin Abreu

If his portfolio of culture and transport makes for a curious combination, it's because Shiv Sena minister Pramod Navalkar thinks he is ideally equipped to take culture places. Except his critics believe he is taking it back to the Dark Ages. From models in the buff to pornography in magazines to Husain's rendering of goddess Saraswati to the Kama Sutra posters to his current fad: cleansing rock music lyrics and censoring play scripts. It is not just artists or artistes that Navalkar imposes his middle-class morals on. It could be bar girls, bus conductors or even ticket touts -- the list is as colourful as his three-decade career making him Maharashtra's "moral inspector".

He takes the sobriquet quite seriously: "Targeting such people or taking up such issues is necessary. If left without public intervention it will cause great harm to society." His latest decision to revive an old law (passed in 1974), which permits authorities to scrutinise the scripts and lyrics of public performances, including plays and rock shows, has raised the hackles of Mumbai's art and culture world.

Apparently, after hearing from friends about a "naughty" play -- Patni Garam, Pati Naram (Hot Wife, Soft Husband) -- being staged close to his residence at Chowpatty, Navalkar went to watch it incognito. He was not amused that the play had little humour and too much lewdness. Or so he felt. More so due to the script. So he scripted that even lyrics of songs performed in public would now be scrutinised. And he had a law at hand to do it.

Those at the receiving end of Navalkar's diktats have questioned the double standards of the Shiv Sena-bjp Government, as also the unbridled powers of its minister. Says Uday Benegal, lead singer of rock band Indus Creed: "Soon the Government will be telling us what to eat and wear." Adds Vishal of Pentagram, another rock band: "This decision is highly fascist and arbitrary. All musicians should oppose it."

Accusations of Navalkar's double-standards are not entirely untrue. Mumbaiites remember that it was the Sena that brought Michael Jackson to the city. "If he is allowed then why restrict us," says one singer. After all, there's no censorship on the Lavani (Marathi folk performance consisting of raunchy dance and double-meaning songs). Ironically, a week after his latest move, Navalkar announced in the state Assembly the institution of an award for "best rural film" in memory of actor-filmmaker Dada Kondke -- the "king" of Marathi double entendre, who made such hits like Bot Lavin Tithe Gudgolia (Where You Put the Finger, There it Tickles) and Aage ke Soche Peeche ke Chod (Think of the Front, Forget the Behind).

Nothing, however, seems to hamper Navalkar's vision. His sense of duty and a greater sense of drama dates back to the '60s when he began writing his popular column Bramanti (Wanderer). In the early '80s, he along with A.R. Antulay and supercop Julio Ribeiro -- in disguise, no less -- struck terror in bars and brothels. During their midnight raids, Navalkar would be armed with a licensed Colt which he flashed with great aplomb. Obviously, that spirit still burns inside him, though he hasn't been on a midnight raid for some time now.

It is this zeal to make Maharashtra as cultured as possible that provoked Navalkar into attacking the Tuff shoes advertisement -- featuring a nude Milind Soman and Madhu Sapre -- causing ripples in the advertising world. Quite unruffled about the furore, Navalkar put his view succinctly: "How can a man allow a woman, who is to become his wife in the near future, to pose in the nude? This is against our culture." In 1996, Navalkar caused a near-riot when he found painter M.F. Husain's old illustration of Saraswati objectionable. The uproar resulted in VHP activists destroying Husain's art museum in Ahmedabad. While his friends advised the artist to keep away from Mumbai till matters cooled down, some wanted to form a Save Husain Committee. Though the case filed against Husain remains unresolved, Navalkar did make his point and grab the headlines.

Last month, he banned hoardings on city bus stops despite protests from local officials that the move was revenue-unfriendly. The minister was evidently incensed after he saw a couple kissing under a hoarding of the film Kama Sutra. After his latest order, the Stage Performances Scrutiny Board (SPSB) has revoked the licences of nine sex comedies, including two bedroom plays -- Bambai ki Hawa Kar Gayi Tabah and Baiko Peksha Mehun Bari (Sister-in-law is Better Than Wife).

Says Shantaram Nandgaonkar, chairman of the SPSB: "We are clamping down on any public performance that has a double meaning or lewd title. This is because a lot of vulgarity has crept into the shows." The uproar over his order notwithstanding, Navalkar has his supporters too. Says gay activist Ashok Row Kavi: "His actions are more direct than most politicians. If one does not act like this, then things get out of control."

While he continues his tirade through his columns in the Sena's weekly Marmik, it doesn't matter to Navalkar that his moral code is observed more in the breach. For a man who once walked into the Assembly with a loaded gun to prove the ineffectiveness of the security, such furores are part of the job. As the rest of Maharashtra waits for his next salvo, Navalkar rests content that whatever he does is sure to hit the headlines.

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