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Should Bollywood be left alone?

March 15, 2010 16:44 IST

Just as the Shah Rukh Khan versus Shiv Sena controversy seemed to be dying down, now another fracas has erupted!

Eleven workers of Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have been arrested for allegedly extorting money from Bollywood producer Ritesh Sidhwani for not hiring locals for a film shoot.

The film in question, Crooked, starring Abhishek Bachchan, reportedly needed foreigners to do some patch-up work, but the MNS workers allegedly demanded a 'fine' from Sidhwani, saying that locals should have been used.

All these two controversies came just a few months after Karan Johar's apologies over the colloquial usage of 'Bombay' over 'Mumbai' in his film Wake up Sid.

Which begs the question: Don't filmmakers have the right to do what's best for their films? Should political parties interfere in the process? Should Bollywood be left alone? 

Tell us!