Friday 26 / April / 2024
Mumbai: Amid veiled threat by MNS of vandalism at multiplexes if Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is screened, the producers on Tuesday sought police protection for the theatres, even as the party stuck to its stand to resist the screening since it features Pakistani actor Fawad Khan.
A team from Johar's Dharma Productions along with filmmaker Mukesh Bhatt and Vijay Singh of Fox Star Studios met Mumbai Police Commissioner Dattatray Padsalgikar and Joint Police Commissioner (law and order) Deven Bharti, and sought protection for the theatres to screen the film, releasing on October 28.
Mukesh is the president of Film & Television Producers Guild of India while Fox Star Studios is distributing the film.
Assuring all help from their end, Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashok Dudhe said, "Mumbai police will provide adequate protection to cinema theatres as and when required."
The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena said on Monday that it would intensify its opposition to Johar's film as it features Fawad.
They issued a veiled threat of vandalism to the multiplexes if they screened it.
The opposition by MNS and some other political parties to films with actors from Pakistan after the Uri terror attack has put a question mark on the fate of Johar's directorial venture.
"We will oppose the screening of the movie everywhere in the state. If any multiplex operator dares to screen the film, they (operators) should remember that multiplexes are decorated with expensive glass sheets," MNS leader Amey Khopkar had said Monday.
Sticking to their stand, Khopkar said on Tuesday, "We will break glasses of film theatres screening the film."
Maharashtra Navnirman Chitrapat Karmachari Sena executive president Shalini Thackeray said, "The producers can get protection for the movie screening, but are they prepared for the outrage of the audience once they see a Pakistani actor on the screen.
"I still do not understand, why these producers fail to understand the sentiments of the society," she said.
Meanwhile, Mukesh Bhatt said, "I disagree with MNS at times and they disagree with us at times. But at the end of the day, we are like brothers.I can only appeal to my brothers to go on in peace."
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil stars Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Anushka Sharma in lead roles while Fawad, whose casting has been at the centre of the controversy, is in an extended cameo.
The Cinema Owners Exhibitors Association of India recently decided not to screen the films with Pakistani actors in four states -- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Goa.
