Exclusive: Sikh protesters stall the screening of Santa Banta Pvt. Ltd
After much delay, Santa Banta Pvt. Ltd. saw the day of light as it released nationwide this Friday. Directed by Akashdeep, the film stars Boman Irani, Vir Das, Neha Dhupia and Lisa Haydon in the leads. When we went to review the film at a nearby theatre, 50-60 Sikh people entered the venue of PVR Sion around 3:30 pm and requested the authorities to stop the screening.
While the opening credits began, one representative from the Sikh protestors and one official from PVR walked into the theatre and told people to vacate the cinema. There were around 10-12 people in the theatre who left in a shock. However, everyone cooperated and vacated the premises. PVR official assured the audience that they would get their refund from the ticket window.
The Sikh protestors were shouting slogans against the makers of the film, Viacom 18 and Sheeba Sabir along with the director Akashdeep Sabir. When contacted one Sikh protestor, he said, “We have the issue with the title of the film. We are also highly upset on the jokes which are being made on Sikhs in the film. We are going to other theatres to stop the screenings from here."
(Photo: DC)
The situation became even worse when few policemen came to the theatre. We tried contacting a policeman amidst of major chaos, he said, “The Sikh people are creating chaos since morning. Few Sikh people came to see the film in morning and since then they have been asking to stop the screenings.”
When contacted the Congress leader Charan Singh Sapra, he said, “The community doesn’t want the movie. There is already one case which is going in SC against Santa Banta jokes. The director Akashdeep has deliberately made mockery of Sikhs. One month ago we wrote to the censor that they should not pass the movie since there are silly jokes in the film. One should never forget that Sikhs have sacrificed their lives for Hindus and we had such a rich history. We have contributed to the Inidain economy. In spite of all this, Viacom 18 and Akashdeep wanted to make money by doing mockery of Sikhs. We have visited K Star, Chembur, Imax Wadala, PVR Sion, Plaza, Dadar, Kalpana, Kurla and also in Vashi and Malad Inox. On Saturday we are visiting the entire western line. We have also spoken the operation manager of PVR for stalling all the shows of Santa Banta Pvt. Ltd. The protest has started in Delhi and Punjab also. The shows are shut in cities like Nagpur, Nanded, Pune and Akola. We have also appealed through social media that a case should be registered under the section of IPC 295 A that says if someone will deliberately hurt religious sentiments, the person should be poisoned for 4 years and the heavy fine decided by the judge. The hearing on the same will be held 27th April in Mumbai.”
(Photo: DC)
Watch the trailer here:
