Raj does a U-turn, won’t oppose TV reality show

After a week of threatening to disrupt a TV reality show on Colors featuring Pakistani artists, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray did a turnaround on Thursday when the channel’s CEO Raj Nayak and filmmaker Boney Kapoor, who heads Sahara One, met him at his Dadar residence.

After a week of threatening to disrupt a TV reality show on Colors featuring Pakistani artists, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray did a turnaround on Thursday when the channel’s CEO Raj Nayak and filmmaker Boney Kapoor, who heads Sahara One, met him at his Dadar residence.

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Kapoor said: “We explained to him that we have shot 15 episodes of the show and are hoping to telecast them as scheduled. We assured him that we respect public sentiments and such things would not be repeated.”

Ameya Khopkar, president of MNS Cine Wing, said the softening of stance was restricted to this programme. “They accepted their fault. We allowed them since they had already shot the episodes, but warned that such incidents would not be tolerated in future,” he added.

The issue gained prominence since Thackeray had targeted veteran singer Asha Bhosle for “patronising Pakistani singers” featuring in the show, Sur-Kshetra. He went to the extent of accusing her of patronising Pakistani artists for monetary gains, overlooking the fact it was responsible for terror activities in India.