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NEW
DELHI: 'A Wedding Gift' is a film that dares to question
Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code to show how it
can be misused by anyone to file a false dowry case.
Made
under the banner of Aliya Productions, the film is expected
to be released next month. The music has been composed
by Ray & Brotherhood.
Veteran
actor Farida Jalal told indiantelevision.com that she
had agreed to act in the film ‘498A – A Wedding
Gift’ when its producer-director Suhaib Ilyasi
related a brief synopsis, because she felt this was
a malaise that should be highlighted.
Made
on a modest budget of Rs 50 million, the film also stars
Alok Nath, Sushma Seth, Reema Lagoo, Colgate Ad boy
Harsh Nagar, Supriya Karnik, Deepak Tijori, and the
new face from Delhi Shrishti Gautam, apart from a look-alike
of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh - Gurmeet Singh, a
65-year-old Jangpura resident who said he is often asked
to pose for photos as he looks like Dr Singh.
Veteran
ghazal singer Ghulam Ali has rendered a patriotic
song and has also acted in the film. "What is
so surprising in this? I found the wordings of the
song beautiful, music touched me and hence I agreed
to sing. This song in any case can be for any country.
It’s a song dedicated to one’s own watan.
When I was asked to perform on screen, I was initially
skeptical but later got into the spirit of it".
‘And
why not," he asked, adding, "India and Pakistan
were one country. There were two brothers till siyasat
played its dirty game by separating them and creating
a siyasi border in 1947."
Ilyasi,
who had earlier gained fame as the maker of India’s
first crime show that exposed real criminals, ‘India’s
Most Wanted’ on Doordarshan leading to many arrests,
appeared before the Committee of Petitions of the
Rajya Sabha go give for his views on Section 498A
of the Indian Penal Code.
Ilyasi
was asked to give suggestions since his film deals
with the freedom that this section gives for any woman
or her kin to file false cases against a husband or
his family.
The
Committee is examining amendments in Section 498A
of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Parliament is considering
amending the law after having received numerous complaints
from the civil society about misuse of the same.
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