FILMMAKERS WILL HAVE TO SHOW SCRIPT TO GET NOD, SAY MINISTER, MP

BHOPAL: Filmmakers will have to seek permission to shoot content that might hurt religious sentiments, Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra said on Monday, a day after Bajrang Dal workers threw ink on film director Prakash Jha and vandalised a filming set for his upcoming web series Ashram 3.

Filmmakers will have to show the script of a story to the state administration before seeking approval for shooting, the minister said.

“We are going to issue a permanent guideline following the dispute over the shooting of Ashram 3. Now the producer-director will need to show the script of the story to the administration before seeking permission, if they are going to shoot objectionable scenes which hurt the sentiments of any religion,” Mishra told reporters.

Separately, Bhopal MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur said a new law would mandate approval of the script by the state before shooting could commence.

On Sunday, Bajrang Dal activists threw ink on Jha and vandalised the set of Ashram 3 in Old Jail in Bhopal, alleging that the web series contained obscene scenes and hurt the sentiments of Hindus. Workers of the right wing organisation thrashed some crew members, and vandalised cars and a vanity van, police said. Although four people were taken into preventive custody, no first information report (FIR) has been filed so far.

Mishra said he supports the Bajrang Dal’s demand to change the name of the web series.

“I also support this. Why is the web series named Ashram? They will understand (the consequences) if they name it (web series or stories) after others’ religion,” he said.

“We consider the ransacking as wrong. Four persons were arrested and further legal steps will be taken. But, Jha saheb, think about your mistakes too.”

“In the name of the web series, an attempt is being made to deliberately target Hinduism for a long time,” he later tweeted.