A Nepal court has lifted a ban on Hindi films, including Prabhas starrer “Adipurush”, and asked authorities not to stop screening of any film passed by the country’s censor board. A dialogue in which Sita is mentioned as the ‘daughter of India’ led to a ban on all Hindi films, which was announced by Balendra Shah, the mayor of Kathmandu. After the court order, Shah said that he was ready to face any punishment but would not allow the screening of the film as the matter is related to the “sovereignty and independence of Nepal”.
In a Facebook post, Shah said he would “not comply with the court order”. “The author of the film said that Nepal was under India, this clearly shows India’s ulterior motive. To call it a stunt by the Government of Nepal and to assume that the court passed an order favoring the screening of the film that Nepal was once under India.” Under the rule of India, both the court and the government are slaves of India,” he said in the post. “I am ready to face any punishment for this but the film will not run and will not be allowed to run,” he added.
A single bench of Justice Dhir Bahadur Chand of the Patan High Court issued a short-term order, stating that the screening of films that have been cleared by the censor board should not be stopped. Bhaskar Dhungana, president of the Nepal Motion Picture Association, told media persons that the petitioners were waiting for a written order from the court. “Now we will screen all the films passed by the censor board,” he added.
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Nepal bans Hindi films
Adipurush and other Hindi films were banned in Nepal following controversy over dialogues that included references to Sita (actor). critic i say) as “Daughter of India”. Many believe that Sita, also known as Janaki, was born in Janakpur in southeast Nepal.
After the Kathmandu mayor’s decision to ban Adipurush in Kathmandu, Dharan mayor Harka Sampang and Pokhara mayor followed suit, which eventually led to the stopping of screenings of Adipurush across Nepal.
About Adipurush
The 2023 Bollywood film by Prabhas and Kriti Sanon is inspired by the Hindu mythological epic Ramayana. Sunny Singh and Devdutt Nag are part of the supporting cast. Directed by Om Raut, Adipurush stars Prabhas as Lord Ram, Kriti Sanon as Goddess Sita, Sunny Singh as Laxman. Saif Ali Khan in the form of Ravana. The film extols the virtues of Lord Rama which include dharma, courage and sacrifice which is aptly reflected in the elegant poster. The film faced multiple postponements and controversies over the course of two years.
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