The Hindu : Police to question Manisha Koirala?

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Tuesday, Sep 10, 2002

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National

Police to question Manisha Koirala?

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

MUMBAI SEPT. 9. The Maharashtra Government has declined to get involved in whether the prints of the controversial film, "Ek Chhotisi Love Story" should be screened or not even as sources said that Manisha Koirala, who has a grievance about the contents of the film as its heroine, has been summoned by the police for questioning.

Ms. Koirala may be questioned, sources said, to decide if she could be held culpable for instigating the rioting. As she was away in New Delhi to meet the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, Sushma Swaraj, she could not present herself yesterday. She may be here tomorrow, the Police Commissioner, M.N. Singh, said though he declined to say why she was called.

The Shiv Sainiks got involved, sources point out, only after Ms. Koirala met the Shiv Sena chief, Bal Thackeray last week and sought his "blessings.''

Mr. Sashilal Nair, director of the film, met the Deputy Chief Minister, Chagan Bhujbal and told him he had a sound case in favour of the 97 prints of the films sent out prior to the Mumbai High Court ordered that the film not be exhibited. Mr. Nair's contention was that the High Court order did not cover those already out of his hands. Mr. Bhujbal asked him to provide the legal papers to substantiate this.

The film is not being screened by any theatre here. It had been screened in nine cinemas on the first day before the Shiv Sainiks disrupted them in one and asking the eight others not to show it. As of today it is being shown in other theatres in Maharashtra with police presence. According to Mr. Bhujbal, "security is only to prevent riots, not to protect the exhibitors to enable the screening.''

Mr. Nair was told that he should settle the issue in the courtrooms as one judge had seen it and allowed it to be shown without any cuts and soon after, on Ms. Koirala's appeal, had stayed the order.

"If he shows us the court papers, we would have it examined for an opinion by our lawyers,'' Mr. Bhujbal told reporters. Mr. Nair is to meet Mr. Bal Thackeray on Tuesday after the former threatened to stage a dharna outside the latter's residence.

"Nothing objectionable"

PTI reports:

The child protagonist of the controversial film, Aditya Sheel, today said he did not find "anything objectionable" in the film despite the current spat between Ms. Koirala and Mr. Nair.

"We do not know what is on Ms. Koirala's mind. But in my view, there is nothing objectionable or vulgar and the scenes were completely justified", the 14-year-old Aditya, around whom the film revolves, said. Mr. Aditya, who plays a teenaged voyeur with a woman older than him in the film, said he did not remember the actress being upset during the shooting of the film.

"However, I was never present at the spot during the shooting of these scenes. I was always asked to go to my studio room", said Mr. Aditya, a class nine student of Chhatrabhooj Narsee Memorial School.

Shiv Sainiks go berserk

The Shiv Sena activists indulged in vandalism at a cinema theatre in Patna, while demonstrating against the screening of the controversial film, damaging some private vehicles.

The Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Central Range), Ravindra Kumar, said over a dozen Shiv Sainiks descended on Ashok theatre during the noon show to protest against the film's screening.

They raised slogans against the showing of the film, despite a ban imposed on it by the court and smashed windscreens of a few vehicles parked in the premises. Incidentally, the cinema hall is owned by the State RSS chief, Krishna Ballabh Prasad Narayan Singh alias Babua Jee.

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