Mudassar Aziz Clears The Air On The Controversial Marital Rape Dialogue

Mudassar Aziz who  has made some refined comedies in  recent times including Happy BhaagJayegi is now  facing  a flurry of fury regarding  a particular dialogue  which was shown in the trailer  of Pati Patni Aur Woh.
The dialogue  which many saw as  an endorsement of marital rape , had Kartik Aryan saying, “Biwi se sex maang lein toh hum bikhaari. Biwi ko sex na de toh hum atyachaari. Aur kisi tarahjugaad laga ke usse sex haasil kar lena toh balaatkari bhi hum hai. (If we ask our wives for sex then we’re called beggars, if we deny them sex then we’re called torturers, and if we coerce them into having sex with us, we’re called rapists).”

 Now for the  first time,  the  director  Mudassar Aziz clears the air.

“Let me tell you  about an incident  from my childhood. My father was  a huge fan of Subhash  Ghai’s cinema. Watching Subhashji’s films was an event for our entire  family. My father would take  my mother my sister and I to a nearby theatre  on the first day .But when Subhashji’s  Khalnaayak  was being released he  saw  the trailer  and heard Sanjay Dutt saying  a dialogue that  sounded  as though the villain’s character  was  being glorified. This shattered my father’s faith in Subhash Ghai’s cinema. He went to see Khalnayak without us.  But then something  happened. When he  saw the  film he realized  that Sanjay Dutt’s character  had not been glorified at all. That the villain comes to an awful sticky end.”

Mudassar feels the offensive dialogue from Pati Patni Aur Wohwas being judged  out  of  context. “And who are these people judging you? I’ve heard   young RJs  asking actors questions that  they have  no business asking. Most people who are  judging us today are  not qualified  to do so. That dialogue which  a   few  wrenched  out of context  is mean  to show the narrowmindedness of  the smalltown Kanpuri  protagonist who has grown up in a patriarchal environment and  doesn’t think it is wrong to think that way. Unless we  spell  out societal  prejudices  how do we  tackle them?”

The  director feels disrespect to women is  not a part of his DNA. “I’ve grown up in a household where my  mother and  sister had  the final  say on every issue. My films whether  it Dulha Mil Gaya or Happy Bhaag Jayegi have  always had women at the forefront.I’d never disrespect women in my cinema.”

Contrary  to reports the allegedly offensive dialogue has  not been  removed  from PatiPatni AurWoh.

Says Mudassar,  “We’ve removed a word that was apparently making people  uncomfortable. But like I said removing the  filth from gender-biased minds  is a process that can only be initiated  after that  filth is addressed.Soch ko badalne ke liye pehle uss soch  ko  awaaz  deni hogi.”