'Har Har Mahadev' row: FIR filed against NCP leader after film's Thane screening disruption
'Har Har Mahadev' released on October 25.
An epic historical drama film has become the latest political flashpoint in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The film tells the story of Baji Prabhu Deshpande, a commander of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's forces, who founded the Maratha Empire in the mid-17th century. On Monday, the film's screening in a Thane mall was stopped by Jitendra Awhad, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader, claiming that the film distorts the Maratha history. He and other NCP leaders stormed a theatre and asked the audience to leave. As per a Thane police officer (as told toThe Indian Express), some moviegoers were also assaulted. The incident occurred soon after NCP had warned the film industry that inaccuracies about historical facts about Shivaji’s life will not be tolerated.
The controversy over the movie had begun when Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati, a Rajya Sabha MP (member of parliament) and a scion of Shivaji, said on Sunday in a press conference that two movies were distorting history. One was 'Har Har Mahadev' and the second was the upcoming film 'Vedat Marathe Veer Daudale Saat'.
“A number of inaccuracies have been pointed out in the recently released movie Har Har Mahadev. We are also hearing about the distortion of facts in Vedant Marathe Veer Daudale Saat. If any such movie is made we will not only oppose it but will stall their release," he said.
'Har Har Mahadev' is written and directed by Abhijeet Deshpande. It features Subodh Bhave as Shivaji and Sharad Kelkar as Baji Prabhu Deshpande. Amruta Khanvilkar, Nishigandha Wad, Sayali Sanjeev, Hardeek Joshi, Milind Shinde, Kishore Kadam, Nitish Chavan, and Ashok Shinde play pivotal roles in the movie. The film, released on October 25, has received mostly positive reviews.
The Indian Express reported that on Tuesday an FIR was registered against Jitendra Awhad under rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, and provoking breach of trust sections.
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After the screening disruption, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), a political party led by firebrand politician Raj Thackeray, has jumped into the fray. MNS has challenged NCP of halting the screening in Thane on Tuesday.
“We will screen the movie in Thane. We challenge NCP and Awhad to stall the movie…For 8-10 days, when the movie was being screened, they kept quiet. And now they are protesting,” MNS leader Avinash Jadhav said as per The Indian Express.