BOMBAY TIMES (April 27, 2019)

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere with the Election Commission’s order, stalling the release of the biopic on PM Narendra Modi until after the elections.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it was “not inclined to” entertain the application filed by producers of PM Narendra Modi challenging the EC’s order. “What survives in this now?” the bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, said. The counsel, appearing for the film’s producers, told the bench that the EC’s order is contrary to the clearance given to the movie by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

“The issue is whether the movie can be exhibited at this time. The Election Commission has taken a decision. We are not inclined to entertain this,” the bench said. The EC had on April 22 submitted its detailed report to the top court on the biopic, saying the film was a “hagiography”, which treated the subject with undue reverence, and its public screening during poll campaign would “tilt the electoral balance.”

The poll panel had said in its 20-page report that the biopic “produces a political environment where an individual acquired cult status.”
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Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 27, 2019)

On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the Election Commision’s (EC) ban on the release of PM Narendra Modi that was slated to release earlier this month. The court said that the Modi biopic can’t release before May 19.

Mirror had earlier reported (April 16) that SC had directed the Election Commission (HC) to re-examine its earlier order of staying the release till after the Lok Sabha elections. A distraught Sandip Ssingh who has produced the film admitted to Mirror that the decision comes as a shock. “No film and its makers have suffered as much as we have. I don’t know why we are being targeted. My film has become a national issue,” he groused.

With the Court stating that now the film can release only after the moral code of conduct is complete Sandip says they have no option but to push the date. “I wish this had been conveyed to us when the trailer released. This will cause huge losses for the distributors, at home and overseas,” he complained, adding that they spent a lot of money on publicity too which is difficult to sustain over two months.

He admits that the decision is unexpected. “Now we can only pray that the film eventually releases and gets the love it deserves. Nobody from the industry has supported us, no one tweeted or sent a personal message. When Akshay Kumar interviewed the prime minister, everyone appreciated it. I’m happy too because Akshay is a big star. But when a film on the same person is made nobody is supporting us,” he pointed out. Will there be any changes in the storyline depending on poll results? “No, we haven’t been told to make any changes in the story, only the publicity strategy will change to renew interest in the film,” he concluded.