By Subhash K. Jha
Mumbai, Nov 24 (IANS) Director Rensil D’Silva is upset with UTV, co-producers of his directorial debut “Kurbaan”, for dubbing into Hindi a crucial English-language classroom discussion on Islam and the Western world featuring Saif Ali Khan, Vivek Oberoi and caucasian Asian-American students.

“The white students speaking in Hindi sounds so artificial. I’m upset because in many ways this discussion of Islamic fundamentalism and America is the crux of the theme. Dubbing it in Hindi takes away from its seriousness,” D’Silva told IANS.

Released Friday, the film, also starring Kareena Kapoor, Dia Mirza and Kirron Kher, has been co-produced by UTV and Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions.

The director feels specially let down since he has not once compromised on the spoken language of the film.

“Saif, Vivek, Kareena Kapoor and Diya Mirza speak in a mixture of Hindi and English. Kirron Kher too has her own speech pattern. It’s only in the crucial scene that the linguistic integrity is compromised.

“They (UTV) had assured me that the dubbing was only for a very small number of prints that would go in the Hindi belt where English is not understood,” he added.

Instead UTV has dubbed the vital sequence in 500 prints of “Kurbaan”.

When asked, Siddharth Roy Kapoor, CEO of UTV said: “It’s an important scene for the audience to understand as it details out the core debate in the film. In order to not alienate a non-English speaking audience, we’ve dubbed this scene in certain areas.”