Gujarat theatres forced to cancel Mahesh Bhatt film

Activists of a party floated by former Gujarat home minister Godhan Zadafia today stormed a theatre in Rajkot and forced cancellation of Mahesh Bhatt film Tum Mile in protest at his son Rahul coming in contact with US terror suspect David Headley.

The Mahagujarat Janta Party (MJP) also demanded a state-wide ban on the film. Headley is in FBI custody in the US after he was arrested for plotting attacks in India at the behest of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

MJP leader Godhan Zadafia said all the cinemas and multiplex owners in the state have been asked by the party to stop screening the film starring Emraan Hashmi and Soha Ali Khan. The movie was released last Friday.

According to police, when the show was going on at a multiplex theatre on Kalavad Road of the city, MJP workers rushed there and shouted slogans against Mahesh Bhatt.

The workers also burst crackers inside the cinema hall and destroyed posters of the film forcing the audience to leave the theatre, police said.

In Rajkot, all shows of film Tum Mile were cancelled today following the demand from MJP. However, no formal complaint was registered with the police.

Cinema owners in the state were also warned of dire consequences if they screened the Bhatt film.

"Mahesh Bhatt's son Rahul allegedly had connection with terror suspect Headley, so we have asked for ban on Bhatt's film in Gujarat," Zadafia, who was home minister in the Narendra Modi government during 2002 riots, told PTI.

The MJP was formed by Zadafia along with some of the BJP rebels last year.