Bhatt and other film personalities are an unhappy lot. Protesting against the manner in which Fire has been removed from movie halls in Mumbai, Delhi and Pune, Dilip Kumar, Mahesh Bhatt and Javed Akhtar have already filed a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court.

``We have approached the chief justice directly,'' explains thespian Dilip Kumar. ``It is the right of a creative person to put forth a thought that people might not concur with. But vandalism is not the right way to do it.''

Fellow petitioner Javed Akhtar adds: ``It is really unfortunate that the film has been sent back to the censors despite the fact that it was not pulled off the theatres following a popular public reaction against it. In fact, by sending it back, the government has given credence to the act.''

The sections under which the petition has been filed includes articles 14 (right to equality), 19 (freedom of speech and expression) and 21 (right to life and liberty).

Going beyond films, Dilip Kumar lashed out at the ``lawlessness in our social lives''. ``There have been many events that have been cancelled, problems with painting exhibitions, singing of songs and printing of books,'' he adds.

Bhatt continued along the same lines, talking about ``cultural emergency''. ``What the people need to combat is the feeling that dissent is not going to be allowed here''.