BMC fines Anurag Kashyap for encroaching upon Juhu garden

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has imposed a fine of Rs13,000 on filmmaker Anurag Kashyap for encroaching upon a garden in Juhu while shooting for his film Bombay Talkies.

According to civic officials, Kashyap had obtained the permission from the civic body to shoot on the road outside a park in Juhu last week. “Following the complaints from the citizens, we had visited the spot wherein we found that they have encroached upon a park,” said an official from K (West) ward office of the BMC.

The official added that as they did not have the required permission for using the garden, they confiscated some production material and utensils lying in the garden and stalled the shoot. “They told us that they had gone to the park for lunch with their unit. But, they did not have the permission to use the park,” added the official.

Vishwas Shankarwar, assistant commissioner of K(West) ward, said, “We have imposed a fine of total Rs13,000 on filmmaker Anurag Kashyap for encroaching upon the garden and will be recovered from deposit.”

However, welcoming the BMC’s action, the citizens working for open spaces said that the rules need to be made public. “It is good but the civic body must lay down rules for using park and must be displayed at the gate of the park to make public aware of it,” said Nayana Kathpalia, co-convener of Citispace.

Bombay Talkies commemorates completion of 100 years of Indian Cinema. It will include four 20 minutes short films by Anurag Kashyap, Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar and Dibakar Bannerjee.