New Delhi: A Sunni Muslim organisation based out of Mumbai is seeking a ban on the movie ‘Muhammad: Messenger of God', directed by Majid Majidi, and has approached the Union Home Minister and the Iranian Consulate in the city for the same.
According to the Raza Academy, the movie is profane for many reasons and will hurt the sentiments of Muslims. The organisation has also asked for legal action against Rahman in the letter sent to Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The movie by the renowned director is a trilogy tracing the life of Prophet Muhammad from his childhood, adolescence and till he became the Prophet.
The founder of the Raza Academy, Mohammed Saeed Noori, wrote in his memorandum, “Firstly, the name of the prophet shouldn't be in the film's title. People use a film's name loosely, like when someone says bad things about the film, it sounds like an insult to Muhammad himself. Secondly, photography isn't allowed in Islam. We have a problem with various actors shown playing Muhammad.”
However, this is not the first organisation that has condemned the movie. The Islamic Research Academy, lined with the Al Azhar mosque of Egypt and Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti were against the movie. The film, however, got funds and support from the Iranian government.
Majidi tried not to evoke controversies, probably the reason why he chose not to show the face of Muhammad. This tedious task was accomplished with the help of Oscar-winning Italian cinematographer, Vittorio Storaro, who worked on various combinations of light and dark.
“The film is being dubbed in many languages and likely to be released all around the world. That will make it worse. Since Iran is an Islamic country, there has not been much furore over this. Irrespective of creed, everyone deserves the same punishment for committing a crime,” Noori said.
The consulate was indifferent to the protest. An official of the consulate said, “Apparently, the Raza Academy members had come for a meeting with us but there was no appointment, and hence, we couldn't receive them.”
The 56-year-old Majidi was applauded for his movies Colour of Paradise (1999) and Children of Heaven (1997). The latter was nominated at the Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category.
