The most popular cause of the cream of the thug society in India is culture. Cinema to them is the epitome of culture. Vandalizing movie theatres and stopping the screening of movies is their chosen method of defending culture.

When you think of culture crusaders, the Shiv Sena comes to mind. Shiv Sainiks, as the foot soldiers of this great army are called, are the first to summarily ban movies. I recently read that Orissa, a state mostly in the news for human despair, actually has a culture-defending outfit call the Kalinga Sena. These critters have called for a ban on the recent Shah Rukh magnum opus Asoka. Their reason: the film wrongly depicts the states' history. The Kalinga Sena 'rushed' to the theatre, burnt an effigy of Shah Rukh Khan and tore the film's posters.

The Shah Rukh-Karreina (the new spelling for improved luck either has a double 'r' or a double 'n'; I'm going with the double 'r') starrer does not claim or attempt to be faithful to history in general, let alone Orissa's history in particular. The story is loosely based on the life of the great emperor, the first half concentrating on a fictional romance and the second half on the war. In fact the story ends with the Kalinga war, before Asoka launched into his Buddhist campaign. And most of us have only ever learnt about Asoka in the context of his being the ambassador of Buddhism. The Kalinga Sainiks apparently have adequate knowledge on Asoka's romantic life and its impact on the cultural history of the state.

The only people who could be mildly irritated with the movie are the non-Sainik public. Shah Rukh is most uninspiring as Asoka - in fact he looks downright un-regal and long hair is not for him. The sound track is pedestrian and there's nothing refreshing about the movie except the kid who is the crown prince of Kalinga.

Come to think of it, the various 'Sainik' mobs of the country have a good life. All they have to do is watch the latest flick, mull over it for a few minutes and if they feel a bit frisky, rush out and ban it.