Adipurush: Kathmandu Mayor Bans All Indian Films, Seeks Removal of 'Janaki Daughter of India' Line

Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah has banned all Indian movies in the city. Not just this, police forces have also been reportedly deployed in Nepal’s capital to ensure no theatre screens any film made in India. “All 17 film halls have been told not to screen Indian films,” his secretariat told Online Khabar.

The move comes days after the Kathmandu Mayor expressed disappointment with ‘Janaki is a daughter of India’ dialogue in Adipurush and claimed that Sita was rather born in Nepal.

On Sunday, the mayor took to his Twitter handle, issued a statement and claimed ‘cultural encroachment’ on Nepal via Adipurush. “If the film is shown as it is, it seems that Nepal’s nationality, cultural unity, and national identity will be severely damaged and irreparable damage will be done. Due to cultural encroachment on Nepal from that movie, this metropolitan city has attracted serious attention. By prohibiting the showing of the said film against the national interest within the Kathmandu metropolitan area, if the film is allowed to be shown in other areas of the country and abroad, it will establish a misleading fact, so it is prohibited to show any Indian film in the Kathmandu metropolitan city until the objectionable parts are removed from the said film,” a part of his statement as quoted by Bollywood Hungama read.

Directed by Om Raut, Adipurush is an adaptation of the mythological story of Ramayan. With Prabhas playing Raghav, Kriti essaying Janaki’s role, and Saif of Lankesh, the film also features Sunny Singh as Shesh and Devdatta Nage as Bajrang.

Meanwhile, the film has also been facing backlash over its ‘Jalegi tere baap ki’ dialogue. Earlier today, the makers also announced that they will make ‘alterations’ to the film’s dialogues. “The makers are revisiting the said dialogues, ensuring to resonate with core essence of the film and the same will reflect in the theatres in the next few days. This decision is a testament that in spite of unstoppable collections at the Box Office, the team is committed and nothing is beyond the sentiments of their audiences and harmony at large,” a statement issued by T-Series read.