Hindu group wants insulting song removed from Deool

After screenings at international film festivals,including the Mumbai festival last month,Marathi feature film Deool has drawn the ire of Hindu right wing activists.

After screenings at international film festivals,including the Mumbai festival last month,Marathi feature film Deool (Temple) has drawn the ire of Hindu right wing activists. They have registered a complaint with the Censor Board demanding that a song in the film,allegedly insulting a Hindu deity,be deleted before the films release on Friday. The movie is directed by Pune – based Umesh Kulkarni with actors Mohan Agashe and Dilip Prabhavalkar also from the city in its cast.

We are demanding that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) cancel the films certification or at least delete the denigrating song before its release, said Shivaji Vatkar,the Mumbai and Thane coordinator for the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti,adding that the organisation will undertake constitutional means of protest,including roping in the support of the several thousand Datta Bhagwan temples in the state and requesting all Maharashtrians to boycott the film. Vatkar claimed the song Phoda Datta Naam insults the deity Datta.

Vatkar and others from the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti met Jitendra Pratap Singh,regional officer of the CBFC in Mumbai on Wednesday and handed over a protest letter. Vatkar said they would file a police complaint after watching the film on Friday.

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The song has remixed and rock music,and filthy words. It is a horrible song, said Vatkar. We are sure there will be a hundred per cent boycott of the film.

Producer Abhijeet Gholap said the protest against the song is misled as the film is a satire on the commodification of faith. The song is a call against those who use the name of god to promote their businesses. Not only have the censors passed the film,but many eminent dignitaries have also watched it over the past two days and have said there is nothing objectionable, Gholap said,adding that the timing of the protest,just days before the mega release of the film with a rare 375 daily shows across Maharashtra,is unfortunate. The film also stars Nana Patekar and Sonali Kulkarni and revolves around the theme of globalisation,commercialised religion and its nexus with politics.

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Hindu group wants insulting song removed from Deool

After screenings at international film festivals,including the Mumbai festival last month,Marathi feature film Deool has drawn the ire of Hindu right wing activists.

Hindu group wants insulting song removed from Deool