Protests erupt against Adipurush: Protests erupted in parts of Uttar Pradesh on Monday against the recently released film 'Adipurush', as the Ayodhya seers demanded an immediate ban on the movie stating that its dialogues made their "blood boil".
Some other cities in the state also witnessed protests including Varanasi, and Mathura, A group of people tore the film's posters in Varanasi while the Hindu Mahasabha lodged a complaint with the Lucknow police against its makers and actors.
"Adipurush", a retelling of the epic Ramayana directed by Om Raut, was released on Friday. It has been panned over its colloquial dialogues and controversial depiction of some characters.
The seers in Ayodhya, where the construction of a huge Ram Mandir is underway, alleged that the characters in the film are 'shown as Muslim characters intentionally'.
'Film's dialogue make our blood boil'
"The film's dialogues make our blood boil. The film should be banned immediately. The government should ensure that this does not happen again," Acharya Satyendra Das, the chief priest of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, said.
"In the movie, the characters of Ram, Hanuman and Sita have been shown as Muslim characters. It has been done intentionally," he alleged.
Mahant Ram Das, the chief priest of the Hanumangarhi temple in Ayodhya, alleged that the film was made under a "foreign conspiracy against Hindu religion and culture".
"The dialogues delivered by the characters playing Lord Ram, Lord Hanuman and Goddess Sita will destroy the ideal culture of Ramayana. We urge the Centre that the film should be banned immediately," he said.
Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha activists staged a protest outside a cinema in Mathura and raised slogans against the film.
Samajwadi Party jumped into the row and joined the chorus against the film alleging that the film was a part of an agenda and said that the devotees are hurt by the movie's "cheap and superficial dialogues".
Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the Censor Board should see the "political character certificate" of those playing with people's faith. "Has the Censor Board become Dhritarashtra?" he asked in a tweet. Dhritarashtra, the father of the Kauravas in Mahabharata, was a blind king.
Protest breaks out in Maharashtra's Palghar
A group of people on Monday disrupted the screening of the film 'Adipurush' in a mall in Nalasopara in Maharashtra's Palghar alleging that the movie hurt the sentiments of Hindus.
According to the police, the protestors claimed that they belonged to a group named 'Rashtra Pratham'.
Incidentally, a couple of days ago, the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti had issued a statement seeking action against "objectionable imaginative scenes" in the Om Raut-directed film.
A film on Lord Ram, who is revered by millions, must be made after reading and understanding the scriptures rather than through imagination in the name of creative freedom, the HJS national spokesperson Ramesh Shinde had said.
The film stars Prabhas as Raghav (Ram), Kriti Sanon as Janaki (Sita) and Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh (Raavan). It is produced by Bhushan Kumar of T-Series.
(With PTI inputs)
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