- 66% said they wanted to see Fanaa
- 68% said Aamir had a right to express his opinion
- 58% said the boycott of Aamir was not justified
- 52% thought Narendra Modi was behind the boycott
- 51% said the previous boycott of Aamir-starrer Rang de Basanti was wrong.
It is Aamir's criticism of chief minister Narendra Modi, as much as his support of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, that is at the heart of the campaign. Curiously, Modi hasn't officially said a word against the screening of the movie. In fact, BJP activists are now trying to widen the agitation through a 55-member umbrella organisation of various political parties and organisations set up under the banner of the Narmada Abhiyaan Sangharsh Samiti. State Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki, almost echoing the Outlook poll, says: "People are not against Aamir Khan, only a handful of BJP fanatics are. There's a hidden agenda which guides the BJP. It is for the CM to make clear his stand now."
Solanki also questions the logic of organising global investors' meets like 'Vibrant Gujarat' to seek corporate investments, while putting on such displays of intolerance and fanaticism. "The twain don't meet," he says.
The BJP Yuva Morcha's Amit Thaker, meanwhile, shies away from explaining why BJP activists won't permit the film's release if, as they claim, 'patriotic' Gujaratis will shun it. Perhaps because patriotic Gujaratis are not shunning Fanaa at all. The state is flooded with pirated CDs of the film and it's doing roaring business. Being snapped up for two-and-a-half times the standard pirated CD price of Rs 40, Fanaa has been declared a blackmarket hit in Gujarat!
