Mumbai - At a news conference today- - nearly four years aftercoming up to the fourth anniversary of Prime Minister Vajpayee’s much- publicised directive to India’s state governments to enforce animal-protection laws - --Bollywood’s favourite villain revealed his soft spot for animals by launching two brand- new, hard-hitting ads, one for print media and one for television, on behalf ofthat he stars in for PETA India (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). (PETA). Through both ads, Gulshan, best known for his chilling portrayal of the villain in the film Ram Lakhan, hopes to encourage citizens to urge their local governments and police to take action to stop illegal overcrowding of animals in transport to slaughter for leather and meat.
The print ad, shot by ace lensman Ashok Salian, shows Gulshan, in wearing a fakeaux- leather trench coat and shoes, towering over a lorry that is cruelly jam-packed with cows, along with the next to the tagline, ‘Stop the Real Villains - Stop Cruel Animal Transport’. In the video ad, which was shot by renowned filmmaker Kailash Surendranath, Gulshan orders a personsomeone off-camera to deprive ‘them’ of food and water, rub chilli peppers into ‘their’ eyes if ‘they’ collapse and then cram ‘them’ onto lorries and take ‘them’ to be killed. (treated meted out to animals in India everyday). The vViewers soon learns that the victims of this cruelty are‘they’ means animals, who suffer such abuse every day.
‘I am a villain only on screen;, however, there are real- life villains who treat animals badly’, says Gulshan. ‘I urge decent people everywhere to help stop this[animals’] needless suffering by insisting that their local governments and police enforce laws against cruel transport and poor treatment of animals by truly bad men.’
PETA India charges that virtually no improvements in the treatment of animals have been implemented since Vajpayee’s directive and that violations of India’s 1960 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act remains widespread. Among other acts of cruelty to Indian cows, buffaloes, goats and sheep, PETA has gathered evidence which shows animals’ being crammed onto trucks in such high numbers that many become severely injured, gouged by horns and crushed -- many of them dying en route -- and later, at most abattoirs, being dragged inside and cut open, often with dirty, blunt knives in full view of one another, with some animals being skinned and dismembered while still conscious.
Last month, world-renowned sitarist and Bharath Rathna recipient Pt. Ravi Shankar announced his support for PETA India’s initiative to file a Supreme Court case against the Indian government for failing to alleviate the suffering of animals used for leather and meat. And designers likesuch as Hemant Trevedi, Stella McCartney, Geetanjali Kashyap and Rajesh Pratap Singh are spearheading an important fashion trend by opting to use humane materials instead of leather for their creations.
Other credits for Gulshan’sthe stunning ads include Alim (hair), Atul Sahni (voice -oover), Cinevista Studios (filming), Suresh Sharma (make-up), iDreams (costume), K.C. Jagannath (cinematography), La Musique (dubbing) and USL (technical equipment and editing).,
Please find eEnclosed please find a copy of the print ad, as well as a factsheet on the treatment
