MIKE MYERS - HINDU PROTESTS MOUNT OVER MEYERS'S LOVE GURU

Paramount has reportedly agreed to screen its forthcoming Mike Meyers comedy The Love Guru to a group of Hindu leaders in the U.S. in an apparent effort to quell growing criticism of the movie among Hindu organizations in the U.S. and India, Indian newspapers reported. Over the weekend, Lila D. Sharma, president of the India Heritage Panel in Chandigarh, India, said in a statement, "Hollywood is trying to make money by laughing at our holy men and in the process creating a stereotype." The Indian news website Merinews.com said in an editorial, "With all the ridicule showered at our holy men and women in the film The Love Guru, we should not only brace ourselves against Hollywood comedian Mike Myers, but also assert our rights to not let aliens poke fun at us when we revere our revered ones!" In the U.S., Raja Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, said that the trailer for the movie "appears to be lampooning Hinduism. ... It perpetuates stereotypes of Hindus." Paramount spokesp erson Jessica Rovins responded, "It is our full intention to screen the film for Rajan Zed and other Hindu leaders in the U.S. once we have a finished print." The movie, she added, "is a comedy and the purpose is to entertain, and we are not making this movie to offend anybody."

17/03/2008