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PROMOTING THE MOVIE INDUSTRY, FIJI-STYLE, WITH FIJI STORYLINES

India’s Bollywood appears to be fast running out of original ideas on stories for hit movies. Detective-Inspector Nasir Ali’s story to the President of Fiji about senior officers conspiring against him to derail the agriculture scam investigation will make a very refreshing addition to the collection of Amitabh Bacchan, who as an angry young man of yester years still wins an award as an ageing fighting tiger. Nasir Ali’s story will very well suit his profile as a powerful character who has been fighting and exposing corrupt politicians and corrupt police officers. Nasir Ali’s real life story fits this bill.

By Thakur Ranjit Singh, in Auckland

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IT IS interesting to see that Fiji is increasingly seen as a good place for film production because of its good shooting locations and friendly people. The chairman of the Audio Visual Commission and Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase are very optimistic about a good potential for foreign money flowing into Fiji through this initiative.

I am happy to report that apart from this, Fiji needs to capitalize on its ability to provide producers with very good and juicy local stories, as this country is flourishing with actual events which could be brought to silver screen. I will suggest two such situations today.

The Nasir Ali story
India’s Bollywood appears to be fast running out of original ideas on stories for hit movies. Detective-Inspector Nasir Ali’s story to the President of Fiji about senior officers conspiring against him to derail the agriculture scam investigation will make a very refreshing addition to the collection of Amitabh Bacchan, who as an angry young man of yesteryears still wins an award as an ageing fighting tiger. Nasir Ali’s story will very well suit his profile as a powerful character who has been fighting and exposing corrupt politicians and corrupt police officers. Nasir Ali’s real life story fits this bill.

What has been happening in Nasir Ali’s case appears to be story stolen from Mumbai’s spicy filmy script. Here is the story of a government which comes to power through corrupt means by using and abusing public funds utilised as vote-buying techniques by an interim administration which tasted the sweetness of power. After this sweet taste, the interim government dreamt of being the permanent government and puts its hands in public till to buy votes.

A subsequent enquiry revealed wholesale abuse of purchasing process where cheap products were sold at excessively inflated price by local hardware shops to the government. Millions were made overnight. In a similar manner, an overnight fire temporarily frustrated the investigation.

In comes the hero of the film - a no-nonsense, very religious family man with a long success of investigations under his belt. Though accused of being slow on the job, this officer appeared to have stumbled on something hot that could be recipe for toppling of a government.

With an election so near the corner, it could be death knell for the ruling party. Hastily, the police mafia got into action to silence this straight shooter with various trumped up charges and bureaucratic hurdles.

Some big names from all angles are whispered. They included cabinet ministers, senior civil servants and senior fellow police officers. Rumours of millions changing hands are also whispered and the powerful and the mighty are doing their best to stop this inquisitive damaging Inspector.

His frustrations lead him to report his suspicions to the President after he loses faith in his own police force and the judicial and the justice system which are geared to protect the rich and the mighty. He is alleging that his own officers and the rich and mighty are derailing the investigations.

Based on the allegations and pressure from the opposition party prompted the President to institute a Board of inquiry into the Agriculture Scam investigations. The results are astounding with the exposure of high level of corrupt partnership between the big businesses, the powerful politicians and the high ranking civil servants and police officers on the take from the rich and the mighty.

The culprits are apprehended, brought to justice and once again the rule of law and justice triumphs with an honest government coming to power in the next election.

Stop losing your sleep over this – it is just a script for the new Bollywood masala to be sold to India by the Audio Visual Commission to attract Amitabh Bacchan to Fiji’s attractive film stories about corruption and underhand dealings.

The Daily Post story
Apart from this, Fiji also produces other good stories. The founder and former editor of Daily Post and now the head of the Audio Visual Commission championing movie industry in Fiji could sell the Daily Post story to Oscar winner Clint Eastwood, who could make a Hollywood blockbuster in the tradition of "Absolute Power"

The script could detail how the daily paper went to the dogs through ineffective management when an experienced "Liu Muri" was enlisted to rescue the paper. The new manager/publisher was very critical of the interim regime that was in power because of the hijack of the democratically elected government. He was seen as a thorn in the sides of the unelected bunch of people under whom corruption and institutionalised racism thrived.

The not so "aage picche" articles and hard-hitting editorials were too much for the interim government which wanted to use the supposedly government owned paper as its mouthpiece and propaganda machine. They could not do so with an honest person at its helm. Hence he had to be moved.

Things came to a head when an enquiry on an ineffective Commissioner of Police was branded as fraud on the nation by this "Liu Muri." This came about when the Commissioner under whose nose a government was toppled and law and order broke down was, found innocent of dereliction of duties. The article implicated the head of this inquiry, the then Chief Justice of that banana republic, of compromising his high chair in this enquiry.

This ruffled the feathers of the country’s interim Prime Minister and top guns as they all descended from the same geographical location of this South Seas republic. "Liu Muri" was pressured to retract his allegations and offer an apology to the then Chief Justice. Upon the refusal of this from the conscientious protector of the Fourth Estate, the mafia, through its boardroom reach, booted out this head of the paper to put its stooge in place.

The paper nose-dived under this regime and ultimately the tamed head also had to be kicked out. Now the paper became a joke when it was run by bureaucrats appointed by the government. It continued to make losses.

The manner in which "Liu Muri" was ousted was repeated to terminate the star reporter and journalist of this paper because the country’s then Vice-President was jailed for treasonous activities. The conviction came about, among other things, because of the journalist who was the star witness and who was in Parliament on that fateful day. (The script here could cover the underhand way in which the then Vice President was released from jailed by an unelected Attorney General citing sickness for a fresh-looking man, enjoying parties. The script of the movie could go further in a flash back and show how a senior lawyer was debarred by the country’s law society for abuse of trust fund and how a government appoints such person as its chief legal advisor and a guardian of judiciary.)

The movie can then focus on the present day Daily Post newspaper which is threatened with court action by the head of Audio Visual Commission in his capacity as a minority shareholder. The script would go on to cover the events of how the shares were sold to a certain company which was seen as government friendly, and with no newspaper experience. The storyline could further cover the events leading to this situation and show how a political spokesperson of the governing party sheds off his political hat to put on a supposedly impartial hat of the editor of a previously government owned newspaper just prior to the election year. A probing eye could look at relationship of this person to country’s political head. The script could also look at other tenders from local credible organisations and could also obtain some juicy bits from the Auditor General’s report.

This movie proposal can even give an opportunity for the former editor of Daily Post, and current head of Audio Visual Commission a cameo role in this film. Suggested titles, among others, could be, "Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely", "Government Off the Indians, Government For the Indians and Government Off the Indians" or "The Lauan Connection."

Thakur Ranjit Singh is the former head of the Daily Post newspaper and former Director Administration and Operations of Suva City Council. The views expressed are his own. Republished by permission.