Kathmandu: Screening of all Hindi films will be banned in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu from Monday over “objectionable words” and the portrayal of Sita in the film “Adipurush”. A top city official made the announcement on Sunday. Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah has defended the decision to ban all Hindi films in the Kathmandu Metropolitan Region (KMC), saying that screening Adipurush without deleting a dialogue would “cause irreparable damage”.
In his Facebook post, Shah said, “From Monday, June 19, all Hindi films will be banned from being screened in the Kathmandu metropolitan area, as the objectionable words in the dialogues of the film ‘Adipurush’ have not yet been removed.”
“We have already issued a notice three days ago to remove the objectionable part of the dialogue ‘Sita Mata Bharat ki Beti Hai’ from the film within three days.
He said that if the film is allowed to be screened, “our nationalism, our cultural unity will be irreparably damaged”. Shah appeared determined to block the screening of all Hindi films currently showing in all 17 cinemas in the capital city. KMC spokesperson Naveen Manandhar said, “As per the instructions issued by the KMC, all cinema halls in Kathmandu will stop showing Indian films from Monday.
“We have already spoken to cinema house owners in Kathmandu for cooperation and they have agreed to voluntarily stop screening Hindi films in cinema halls in Kathmandu from Monday,” he said. Instead of showing Nepali films can be shown.
On the other hand, on behalf of the Government of Nepal, on the instructions of Mayor Balendra Shah, the Ministry of Information and Communication has registered its serious objection and termed the decision to ban the film as illegal.
The ministry said that the dialogue of Adipurush, on which people had objections, was muted and allowed to run in theatres. Despite this, it is not right for some people to oppose it. It is not fair to oppose Nepal’s Censor Board after removing the word India and giving the certificate of broadcast. The ministry said that the censor board has been formed by the government regarding which films will or will not run in Nepal and it takes the final decision in such disputes. That’s why it is unfair to talk about anyone else going outside the jurisdiction in an illegal way and banning the exhibition of films.
Adipurush was released across India on Friday. The film stars Prabhas as Lord Ram, Kriti Sanon as Mata Sita, and Saif Ali Khan as Lankapati Ravana. Adipurush was released in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Tamil languages.
