A day before the scheduled release of “My Name Is Khan,” multiplex owners across the city retracted their plan and expressed their unwillingness to go ahead with the release in the wake of ongoing threats and intimidation.
Speaking to The Hindu on the phone, Manoj Desai, executive director of G7 multiplex and Maratha Mandir theatre, said he had taken the decision not to release the movie in his chain of theatres.
“From what I have gone through, I ultimately decided not to release the movie. Three days ago when bookings were to open 10 to 12 Shiv Sainiks smeared the screen in Maratha Mandir with blue ink and then ripped it. I incurred a loss of Rs. 3 lakh. Today, I have leant that others have also decided against releasing the movie. We are being told to leave the first three rows empty. Who is going to pay for that loss? Also, we are told to keep private security guards. Why should I incur such expenses and release the movie. I can wait. I will release something else.”
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Multiplexes like Big Cinemas, Inox and Fun Cinemas also decided not to go ahead with the release. “None of the big cinemas are releasing the movie,” an official from Big Cinemas who did not wish to be quoted told
Himanshu Roy, Joint Commissioner of Police, Law and Order, said the police had learnt of the development informally, but there was no communication from the multiplexes or distributors.
“We have not received any communication. They [producers, distributors] are having a video conference with Shah Rukh Khan. We have done our bit; worked hard all these days. Beyond that if they want anything, they should tell us. [If they decide not to release] what can we do?” Mumbai Police Commissioner D. Sivanandhan told
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Vishal Kapoor, COO Fun Cinamas told a television channel that his theatres had being receiving continuous threats from the Sena.