Screening of Adipurush halted

Kathmandu, June 20: Screening of the controversial South Indian film ‘Adipurush’ has been halted in Nepal since Monday.

Issuing a statement, Shree Byankatesh Entertainment, the Nepali distribution company of the film, said that it had decided to stop the nationwide screening of the movie because of the statement issued by Balendra Shah, the Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. 

Taking to the social networking site Facebook, Mayor Shah urged the filmmaker to remove the misleading dialogue from their film within a three-day period on June 15.  

He has written, “Unless the dialogue ‘Janaki is a daughter of India’ of the South Indian film Adipurush is rectified to reflect the truth, no Hindi film will be permitted to be screened within the Kathmandu Metropolis.” 

The misleading dialogue, however, has been removed in Nepal after the censor board objected to it and delayed its release for Friday.

The film company T-series had silenced the dialogue after which it received permission to screen it in the halls in Nepal. 

Again on Sunday, Mayor Shah reiterated his stance on Facebook, emphasising the duty of every government, government agency, non-governmental sector, and Nepali citizen to safeguard Nepal’s freedom, independence, and self-respect by protecting national interests. Mayor Shah expressed the fear that if the film is shown as it is, it may severely damage Nepal’s nationality, cultural unity, and national identity, causing irreparable harm. 

He claimed that the movie had drawn serious attention due to its cultural encroachment on Nepal.

The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology in a statement on Sunday said that it had taken serious note of the objections raised by the media and concerned bodies regarding the film, which has been censored after removing objectionable dialogues. Only after removing the controversial dialogues of the said film, permission was granted for public screening after giving a certificate of censor pass, reads a statement issued by Bishal Sapkota, assistant spokesperson for the ministry.

Talking to The Rising Nepal, Manoj Rathi , the distributor of the film, said that after Mayor Shah’s statement, film halls have independently stopped screening the film. “We are in a great loss and the film company has not given any response yet,” he added.  Additionally, Kathmandu Metropolitan City has not issued an official letter regarding the issue, said Rathi. 

Gopal Kaji Kayastha, Vice Chairman of the Nepal Motion Picture Association, said that the distributor voluntarily halted the film’s screening. 

However, in response to Mayor Shah’s statement about banning all Hindi films in Nepal unless the controversial dialogue of ‘Adipurush’ is removed, Kayastha questioned the legitimacy of such action by the metropolis. 

After consulting with legal experts, they are now planning to file a case against the proposed ban on all Hindi films. Kayastha said that imposing a ban on all Hindi films would severely impact the film industry, leading to a crisis. Therefore, they are determined to seek legal action.

The decision of Mayor Shah to impose a ban on the screening of ‘Adipurush’ has garnered wide public support.

 Dhan Raj Acharya, Mayor of Pokhara, also instructed to not screen the film in Pokhara. 

Motilal Timsina, the spokesperson for Pokhara Metropolis, said that they have issued instructions to the film halls in Pokhara, prohibiting the release of any Hindi film until the controversial dialogue from the film Adipurush is removed.

Similarly, the Mayor of Dharan, Harka Sampang, took to social media and requested that the film not be shown in Dharan.   He wrote, “Do not screen Adipurush in Dharan.”

Additionally, Baglung Municipality has also instructed the local film halls not to release any Hindi films until the controversial dialogue of Adipurush is not removed.   

According to the epic Ramayana, Janaki was born in Janakpur, Nepal, in the Treta Yuga as the daughter of king Janak.