The only place ‘Aligarh’, the film on the tragic life of gay AMU professor Srinivas Ramchandra Siras, will not open in is Aligarh. Movie-goers in Aligarh, who had been waiting excitedly to see the Manoj Bajpayee-starrer that has received heady acclaim both in India and abroad, were surprised when they realised on Friday that no theater was playing it though the film had hit screens across the country that day. They, however, didn’t read much into it, thinking their “tier-2 city” would get the biopic on Saturday instead. That didn't happen either.

Curious and frustrated, some of them started making queries. One of the calls went to the film’s production team, led by director Hansal Mehta. No one had a clue why ‘Aligarh’ had not reached Aligarh. TOI on Saturday then got to know that the film had quietly been “banned” in the city after Shakuntala Bharti, the BJP mayor, mounted a protest against its screening. She felt the film would “link the city with homosexuality”, which would be nothing short of a “defamation” of sorts.

Bharti was unapologetic about her objection to the movie. “The film is based on same-sex love and that is not Aligarh,” she told TOI. “We can’t encourage defamation of a city.” Theater owners, however, said it was not just Bharti who had problems with the film. A local group, Millat Bedari Muhim Committee, had also written to Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad, and to Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) head Pahlaj Nihalani, demanding that the name of the film be changed as it “besmirches our city”.

The film’s director Mehta was livid. “This is a homophobic decision. They do not want Aligarh to be linked with homosexuality, but now they will be linked with homophobia,” he said. There had been apprehension from several quarters about the film ever since its shooting was announced. These included questions over how AMU would be represented, since the story is based on Siras' life. University PRO Rahat Abrar had earlier said he would take legal action against the filmmakers if required and that the university was concerned about “misrepresentation of the city or university“. He had also said that the university had not given the director permission to shoot the film, which was eventually shot in Bareilly. On being questioned about it, Abrar said he did not want to comment on the issue at present.

The scriptwriter of  'Aligarh', Apurva Asrani said he was “extremely angry“ about the development. “People in distribution normally do thorough research about where a film will be welcomed and where it won't. It is sad that Aligarh will not get to see a story about itself. The mayor spearheaded protests and that led to theatre owners deciding not to screen the film. They don't want to see the mirror held up to themselves. I have been told three court cases have been filed against us. This reeks of homophobia,“ he said. “Opponents of the film will have to come to terms with the fact that 2% of India's population is from the LGBT community.“

By a little quirk of fate, some Aligarh residents, though, did manage to see the film on the day of its release on February 26 at a prominent theatre in the city.