Earlier this week, Mumbai Mirror broke the story that Yoga guru Baba Ramdev will make his Bollywood debut with the patriotic drama “Yeh Hai India” slated to be released on 18th August. According to the report, he was to feature in a song “saiyaan saiyaan”, written by Tapesh Kumar and sung by Javed Ali.
Another media report said how Baba Ramdev has whole heartedly supported the film since it tries to change the perspective people have about India. In a statement, Baba Ramdev had said he supports the film since it shows how India is no longer a country of snake charmers.
“The country that has a population of millions, a country where Vedas were discovered; few people around the world have a wrong perspective about this country. India is no more (just) a country of snake (charmers), it has advanced,” Ramdev said in a statement.
“India has the capability to lead the entire world. This change in the picture of India has been showcased in the film Yeh Hai India. Hence after a lot of thinking I’ve taken a decision to strongly support this film and I also expect every citizen of India to support such films,” he added.
Soon, media critique turned propaganda website Newslaundry, too, lapped up the story, because of course, a saffron clothed Yoga guru dancing on beats of something called “saiyaan saiyaan” is an amusing sight.
However, all of these articles failed to get one small detail right. Baba Ramdev is not really making a debut and most definitely not dancing on ‘sainyaan saiyaan’. We got our hands on the apology letter [pdf] written by the producers to Baba Ramdev apologising for the wrongly portrayed Baba Ramdev’s support to the film.
The producers also convey in the letter that they will be taking appropriate legal action against Mumbai Mirror. They even said that neither Baba Ramdev nor any of his products or his company has anything to do with the film “Yeh Hai India”.
Yet Hai Media?
