Dirty Picture: Right Wing activists demand ban on Aamir Khan starrer for making fun of Hindu gods
In an escalation of protests against Aamir Khan blockbuster 'PK', Bajrang Dal activists on Monday vandalised theatres in Gujarat exhibiting the film for making fun of Hindu gods and godmen and warned that its screening be stopped.
Besides Gujarat, the right wing activists also staged protests in Agra and Mau in Uttar Pradesh and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and tore posters of the film.
Ten days after the film that has grossed over Rs200 crore at the Box Office in the first 10 days since its release on December 19, on Monday the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) vandalised two cinemas in Ahmedabad which were scheduled to screen the movie. Around 50 activists of the right-wing organisations reached Cinemax and City Gold multiplexes armed with sticks and faces covered at around 11:30 am when around 200 people were waiting to enter the screening halls.
The activists damaged ticket counters and other decorations in the theatres, resulting in a stampede of sorts, with movie-goers rushing out of the theatres in a panicked state.
The activists fled before the police reached the spot. No one has been arrested yet. The Navarangpura police has filed two separate complaints against the Bajrang Dal's Jwalit Mehta and more than 50 workers of the two organisations.
Manu Patel, president of the Multiplex Association of Gujarat, said, "Why are they protesting 10 days after the release of the film? This is a serious incident, and we strongly condemn this. PK will be screened uninterrupted all over the state."
In Nadiad town of Kheda district, Bajrang Dal staged protests outside three theatres in the town by shouting slogans against Aamir Khan and burning posters of his movie.
In Surendranagar town, Bajrang Dal members gathered outside Milan Cinema and set ablaze the poster of PK.
Activists of the hardline Hindu outfit also staged a protest outside Jyoti Talkies in Bhopal where the film was being screened. However, there was no report of any violence.
Aamir Khan has already trashed accusations of him having insulted the Hindu religion because he was a Muslim, saying, "We respect all religions. All my Hindu friends have seen the film and they have not felt the same.
Even Raju (Hirani) is Hindu, so is Vinod (Chopra) and so is Abhijat (Joshi). In fact 99%of the crew was Hindu. No one would have done such a thing," the actor said, referring to the director, producer and the scriptwriter of the film.
Members of another right wing outfit Hindu Yuva Vahini tore posters of the film, set it ablaze and stopped its show in Mau in UP and demanding a ban on the picture.
The outfit's district president Ajay Kumar said if the movie was not banned then the agitation would be intensified.
In Agra, activists of the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad warned authorities that they would not let the film run in the city.
Censor Board Chief Leela Samson said she believed that the protests against the film are allegedly being instigated. Samson said that she had been informed that the film did not run into any trouble during certification and no problems were anticipated either.
—With Agency Inputs
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