Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; March 10, 2016)

Vivek Agnihotri’s long-completed film Buddha In A Traffic Jam has finally managed to get a release date this May. But before it hits the big screen, the filmmaker is keen to take his film to the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi since it is centered around student life and echoes the recent happenings at the varsity. However despite repeated emails as well as text messages to the JNU authorities, he has not received any response.

Agnihotri says he wrote Buddha In A Traffic Jam a few years ago when he was disturbed by the way a nexus of professors-intellectuals-NGOs and Naxalites was brainwashing students and using them as “intellectual terrorists”. “It’s ironical that the film mirrors all that is happening in JNU today. The film exposes this nexus and perhaps, this is the reason that the film has found such resistance. Even after writing several letters, we haven’t obtained permission to screen the film in such institutes. But we are determined to tell the story,” he adds.

The cast of Buddha In A Traffic Jam includes Arunoday Singh, Mahie Gill, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi and Anchal Dwivedi. The film premiered at the 2014 Mumbai International Film Festival and has been showcased at other festivals too.