Koirala runs to Sainik No 1

‘‘I had just entered the hall and was looking for my ticket. Suddenly, someone hit me hard on my leg. There was chaos all around,’’ said a viewer as he limped out of the theatre.

‘‘I knew that this complex, being the closest, would be targeted. The police were here but they only stood and watched,’’ said Manoj Desai, owner of the multiplex. ‘‘I have decided not to screen this film at my multiplex ever again.’’ Desai reportedly spoke to Uddhav Thackeray and cancelled all the subsequent shows on the latter’s instructions.

The Sena, in fact, seems to taking an inordinate interest in the film and in supporting Koirala. Uddhav has called for a meeting with the distributors of the film. The party will reportedly request distributors not to screen the film without Koirala’s permission.

The Sainik solidarity follows an hour-long meeting between Koirala, her counsel Satish Maneshinde and Thackeray. This is Koirala’s second meeting with Thackeray on the issue. The meeting was arranged by Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Nirupam.

Two days ago on Thackeray’s directives, a Sena Member of the Legislative Council, Dr Neelam Gorhe, had escorted her to the office of the State Commission for Women, to protest certain scenes in the film that used a body double.

Nirupam, in fact, told The Indian Express that it was at Thackeray’s behest that the actress had gone to court and got a stay on the screening. ‘‘Balasaheb called Satish Maneshinde over to Matoshree and asked him to take up the case and get a stay. Balasaheb says that the woman is fighting for her dignity and this dignity has to be safeguarded at all costs. He has requested the distributors not to screen the film till Manisha gives the green signal.’’ Maneshinde added that they would file defamation cases against anyone screening the film without the court’s order.

While in New Delhi, the National Commission for Women also said it would file a ‘‘comprehensive litigation’’ in the Supreme Court over the case and such incidents to demand strict enforcement of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act. ‘‘The Manisha Koirala incident is a pointed case and we will talk about the larger issue of implication and ramification of the Act. We need to look into the larger ambit of Constitutional provisions in the case,’’ NCW chairperson Poornima Advani told reporters.

The Nepal Sena, a wing of the Sena comprising members of the Nepali community, also declared that they will launch an agitation in Mumbai if the film is screened against Koirala’s wishes.