The Jaisalmer district administration has booked three crew members of the upcoming Bollywood film Agent Vinod, which stars Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, under the Antiquity Act for defacing and damaging a historical and heritage structure during filming. The film is produced by Saif Ali Khan.
The official action came as the film's crew was preparing to shoot its climactic scene at historic Kuldhara village on the outskirts of Jaisalmer city Wednesday. Director Sriram Raghavan wanted to depict Kuldahara as a Pakistani village and the film's art director used maroon oil colours to paint over the original yellow stones of Kuldahara.
Defacing
He also had mud filled into the stone layers of the walls of the ancient city's houses, not only defacing the historical structure, but also causing permanent damage to the heritage site. The film crew also used the old stones scattered in the area to build a wall with several layers. Villagers of Kuldhara complained to a district official who visited the site and videographed the changes caused by the film unit.
Cameras, lighting seized
Based on the reports, M.P. Swami, the District Collector, booked the film unit under the Antiquity Act and police seized cameras, lighting and other equipment used for producing the film. Swami said the film unit had applied to the state's Home Department seeking permission to shoot the movie at Kuldhara but had not yet received the permission. They had simply gone ahead with their preparations even before being granted permission for filming.
In all such cases, where a film is being shot in a historical place, the state government appoints the state tourism department as the nodal agency to supervise the shooting to ensure that the original heritage and historical properties are not tampered with. Padma Ram, the guard of the historic site, said he had warned the film crew while they were trying to colour the walls. "I even showed them the department of archaeology's notice board that clearly stated any person found damaging or defacing the historical structure would be liable for imprisonment for up to three years and a fine of Rs100,000 (Dh7,435). But the film unit ignored the instructions on the notice board," said Ram.