Nepal lifts ban on Indian cinema except 'Adipurush'
- By Web Desk -
- Jun 24, 2023
Nepal lifted the ban on Indian cinema, resuming the screening of all films except the pan-Indian title ‘Adipurush’ from Friday onwards.
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As per the reports from foreign news agencies, Nepal’s government lifted the ban on the screening of Indian films, allowing cinema halls to show all titles except the recently-released mythological film ‘Adipurush’.
In a statement from the Nepal Motion Picture Association, the authority said that all Nepali and foreign films except Adipurush will be screened in the theatres.
It is pertinent to mention that over 17 theatres of the capital city of Kathmandu and the tourist town of Pokhara, banned the screening of all Indian films earlier this week, after the controversy around the dialogues in Prabhas and Kriti Sanon starrer ‘Adipurush’, where the mother goddess Sita/Janaki, who was born in Janakpur in southeast Nepal, was referred to as ‘daughter of India’.
The Mayor of Kathmandu, Balendra Shah had said that no Indian film will be allowed to screen in the metropolis until the dialogue ‘Janaki is a daughter of India’ is removed from all the versions of the film, including the one to be released in India.
On Thursday, a single bench of the Patan High Court judge Dhir Bahadur Chand issued a short-term order, stating that the ‘screening of films that have acquired permission from the censor board’ should not be stopped.
“It has been our belief that no one is above the nation and nationality. It is our fundamental right to engage in our business freely abiding by Nepalese Law,” the bench observed.
However, Shah maintained that he was ready to face any punishment but would not allow the screening of ‘Adipurush’ as the matter pertains to ‘Nepal’s sovereignty and independence’.
Based on the Hindu mythological epic ‘Ramayan’, the multilingual saga ‘Adipurush’ starring Prabhas, Saif Ali Khan, Kriti Sanon and Sunny Singh, hit theatres last week.
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