Following a controversy over its dialogue, which included the reference to Sita as “India’s daughter,” all Hindi films, notably Adipurush, were banned in Nepal on Monday. Adipurush, directed by Om Raut and portraying the epic Ramayana, reportedly had its worldwide screenings suspended after being outlawed in Kathmandu and Pokhara. In Kathmandu, police officers were stationed in 17 venues to make sure that no Hindi films were shown.
No Hindi film will be permitted to screen in Kathmandu Metropolitan City, according to Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah, unless the sentence “Janaki is a daughter of India” in Adipurush is removed both in India and Nepal. Many people think that Sita, also known as Janaki, was born in Janakpur in southeast Nepal.
The movie Adipurush, starring Prabhas and Kriti Sanon, would not be allowed to be screened starting on Monday, according to Pokhara Metropolis Mayor Dhanaraj Acharya. Adipurush will suffer “irreparable damage” if it is screened without having one of its dialogues changed, according to the mayor of Kathmandu.
”Screening of all the Hindi films will be barred within Kathmandu Metropolitan City from Monday, June 19, as the objectionable words in the dialogue of the film ‘Adipurush’ has not yet been removed,” he mentioned in a Facebook post earlier on Sunday.
Manoj Muntashir Shukla, who wrote the dialogue for the film Adipurush, claimed on Sunday that the producers had decided to “revise some of the dialogues” after the movie received harsh criticism for its trite language.
Raju Pandey, Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Police chief averred, ”We got a positive response during the inspection on Sunday and we are now monitoring all the cinema halls from Monday morning”.
”While monitoring QFX Hall at Civil Mahal in Kathmandu… they said they will show Nepali and English movies instead of Hindi ones. We will not allow screening of Hindi movies until the KMC authority gives permission,” he further added.
”Now, we are screening Nepali film Neer Phool from Monday,” he stated.
Adipurush, a film by T-Series, Retrophiles, and UV Creations, also stars Sunny Singh as Shesh (Lakshman), Devdutta Nage as Bajrang (Hanuman), and Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh (Ravana).