The teaser of upcoming Bollywood movie Heroine has infuriated Dubai residents with a dialogue that degrades Bollywood actresses who visit the city. A press conference scene from the trailer that came out last week showed actress Kareena Kapoor rebuking journalists.
“You people should be writing scripts. If a heroine buys a car, it’s gifted to her by a businessman, if she goes to LA, she’s getting plastic surgery done and, God forbid, if she goes to Dubai, you people make a rate card for her,” Gulf News quoted her as saying in the movie. Residents said that the suggestion that Bollywood actresses who visit Dubai end up as call girls with price tags was sickening. “This is terrible. Bollywood has once again tarnished the image of Dubai by typecasting it as the hub of illegal and immoral activities,” popular radio jockey Kritika Rawat said.
“Let’s not forget that Dubai is home to a number of Bollywood stars. Dubai stands for progress and development and has made a huge imprint on the world map. “To use its name in such a callous manner shows the ignorance of the filmmaker and is just not acceptable,” she said. Dubai-based TV personality Uma Ghosh Deshpande said that she couldn’t understand why Indian filmmakers were still obsessed with typecasts. “This is 2012; gone are the days when Indians came to Dubai on a ferry to take odd jobs. Over the last two decades, the Indian community has worked up the ranks and earned a reputation across various sectors, making their motherland proud,” she said.
“It’s high time Indian films stop associating Dubai with the underworld and prostitution. Their lopsided perception has to change. Dubai is an important market for Bollywood which is why Indian films are routinely premiered here. “Bollywood movies are loved by not just Indians but other communities including Emiratis too. Women are given utmost respect in Dubai. It’s an extremely safe place for them. I wish the filmmaker had done some research about the city,” she said. Ironically, Heroine has been directed and co-written by director Madhur Bhandarkar, who in 2010, was honoured in Dubai for his contribution to Indian cinema. Indian techie and film buff Sameer Haider said when fading actress Mahi Arora (played by Kareena Kapoor) addressed journalists in the film, she was not stating the views of the protagonist; instead she was lashing out at them for cooking up bogus stories — hence the sarcasm in her dialogue.
