Nepal Banned Screening Of Hindi Films Due To Adipurush Controversy

All Hindi films, including “Adipurush,” were prohibited in Nepal on Monday as a result of a controversy over its language, which referred to Sita as “India’s daughter.”

The Om Raut-directed film “Adipurush,” which is a retelling of the epic Ramayana, reportedly had its worldwide screenings suspended after being outlawed in Kathmandu and Pokhara.

Police officers were stationed in 17 Kathmandu theatres to guarantee that no Indian films were shown.

On Sunday, Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah stated that no Hindi film will be allowed to be shown in Kathmandu Metropolitan City until the sentence “Janaki is a daughter of India” in “Adipurush” is removed  not only in Nepal but also in India.

Many believe Sita, also known as Janaki, was born at Janakpur, which is located in southeast Nepal.

Pokhara Metropolis Mayor Dhanaraj Acharya has announced that screenings of “Adipurush,” starring Prabhas and Kriti Sanon, will be prohibited beginning Monday.

The mayor of Kathmandu has stated that screening “Adipurush” without removing one of its monologues will cause “irreparable damage.”

“Screening of all the Hindi films will be barred within Kathmandu Metropolitan City from Monday, June 19, as the objectionable words in the dialogue of the film ‘Adipurush’ has not yet been removed,” he said in a Facebook post on Sunday.

As the issue grew, “Adipurush” dialogue writer Manoj Muntashir Shukla revealed on Sunday that the film’s directors had decided to “revise parts of the phrases” after the film was extensively criticised for its pedestrian language.

Shukla, who wrote the multilingual saga’s Hindi language and songs, said the revised lines will be added to the film this week.

Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Police Chief Raju Pandey stated that the police inspected the city’s cinema halls on Sunday in accordance with the mayor’s directions.

“We got a positive response during the inspection on Sunday and we are now monitoring all the cinema halls from Monday morning,” Pandey said.

“While monitoring QFX Hall at Civil Mahal in Kathmandu… they said they will show Nepali and English movies instead of Hindi ones. We will not allow screening of Hindi movies until the KMC authority gives permission,” he added.

A security guard at Q’s Cinema situated at the Rising Mall in Kamaladi Kathmandu said the theatre stopped screening “Adipurush” after showing the movie once on Friday evening. “Now, we are screening Nepali film ‘Neer Phool’ from Monday,” he informed.

The film, which was co-produced by T-Series, Retrophiles, and UV Creations, also stars Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh (Ravana), Sunny Singh as Shesh (Lakshman), and Devdutta Nage as Bajrang (Hanuman).

Also read: Manoj Muntashir Gets Security Cover From Mumbai Police Amid Adipurush Criticism