Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra Shah announced on Sunday that no cinema hall in the Nepali capital would be allowed to run any Bollywood movie.
The order comes three days after Shah gave a three-day ultimatum to the Indian filmmakers of the movie Adipurush to delete a dialogue that referred to Sita as the “daughter of India.”
#Kathmandu #Adipurush
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The order banning all Hindi films came three days after mayor #BalendraShah warned of imposing the ban unless the makers of Adipurush remove a line from the movie that refers to Sita as the “daughter of India”.https://t.co/cMyItEotLB
Kathmandu Mayor Bans Bollywood Movies
Shah described the dialogue in Adipurush, which is based on the Hindu epic Ramayana, as misleading as there are differing claims about the birthplace of Sita. While some believe that Sita was the daughter of King Janak of Janakpur in present-day Nepal, others are under the impression that she was born in Sitamarhi in present-day India.
The mayor said, “Until the line ‘Janaki is a daughter of India’ contained in the South Indian film ‘Adipurush’ is removed not just in Nepal but also in India, no Hindi films will be allowed to run in Kathmandu Metropolitan City.”
Informing about the ban, Shah said that it was the first duty of every government agency and Nepali citizen to protect the national interest by keeping the freedom and self-respect of Nepal intact. He said that Clause 6 of Article 5 and Article 56 of the Nepali Constitution assign the Union, State and local governments the responsibility to protect the national interest.
“If the film is shown as it is, it seems that Nepal’s nationality, cultural unity and national identity will be severely damaged and irreparable damage will be done,” Shah commented.
The mayor further said that if the film is allowed to be shown in other areas within the country and abroad, it will establish a misleading fact, so it is prohibited to show any Indian film in the Kathmandu metropolitan city until the objectionable parts are removed from the said film.
Following the lead of Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Balendra Shah, the Pokhara Metropolitan City has also implemented a ban on the screening of Indian films within its jurisdiction.https://t.co/IRmXDsx3a8
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Ban in Pokhara, Producers Respond
Meanwhile, Pokhara Metropolitan City has also enforced a ban on the Indian movie following the dialogue controversy. Pokhara’s mayor, Dhanraj Acharya, issued a statement banning theatres in the metropolitan area of central Nepal from showing Bollywood films.
The film came under fire not only in Nepal but in India as well. The dialogue writer for ‘Adipurush,’ Manoj Muntashir Shukla, announced on Sunday that the film’s creators have chosen to “modify certain dialogues” in response to the criticism of using crude language in the mythological epic.
T-Series, the movie’s production company, wrote to the Kathmandu Mayor in response to the ban. The company clarified that “it was not intentional or deliberate to cause any disharm for anyone.” The producers also requested the mayor to view the film in its artistic form and support the intention of reaching out to a large audience to create interest in history.