A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against the Nationalist Congress Party member of the Legislative Assembly Jitendra Awhad and party workers on Tuesday for disrupting the screening of Marathi movie Har Har Mahadev based on the life of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Mr. Awhad along with around 100 supporters forcibly shut down the screening of the movie at a mall in Thane and asked the viewers to leave the theater. According to them, the film “distorted the Maratha history and such movies would not be allowed to be released in the State”.
An FIR has been registered against them by the Thane police under sections 146 (rioting), 321 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 406 (punishment for breach of trust),323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of Maharashtra Police Act.
On November 7, former Rajya Sabha member and descendant of Maratha warrior Shivaji, Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati, from the Kolhapur royal family said, films that distort historical facts about Shivaji’s life will be strongly opposed and efforts will be made to prevent the release of such films.
Mr. Chhatrapati had said, “A number of inaccuracies have been pointed out in the recently released movie Har Har Mahadev. We have also been hearing about fact distortion in another movie Vedat Marathe Veer Daudale Saat. We will stall the release of any other such film in the future.”
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and president of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Raj Thackeray were present at the time of release of Har Har Mahadev, which is inspired by Maratha commander Baji Prabhu Deshpande’s legendary rearguard battle that enabled Shivaji’s escape from a Sinhala Fort.
On Monday, followers of right-wing Hindu leader Sambhaji Bhide disrupted the screening of Har Har Mahadev in Pune. The movie stars actors Sharad Kelkar, Subodh Bhave, Amruta Khanvilkar, and Sayli Sanjeev and Mr. Thackeray has lent his voice for the film.
