Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; April 16, 2019)

In a fresh turn of events, the Supreme Court has asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to watch the Vivek Anand Oberoi-starrer, PM Narendra Modi, and take a call on whether it should be banned till the conclusion of the Lok Sabha polls. The apex court has also asked the ECI to give its view to the court by April 22, in a sealed cover. Bombay Times had earlier reported that the producers had moved the Supreme Court against a stay on their film’s release by the ECI. The court had posted the matter for yesterday (April 15).

The biopic was scheduled to release on April 11, but the ECI stalled its release on April 10, citing the Lok Sabha polls that commenced on April 11. The film was granted a U certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on April 9, and the Supreme Court had also cleared it for release on the same day. The SC in its decision had also stated that the ECI should decide whether the film violates the model code of conduct or not.

The ECI had then stated that the biopic will not be released until the polls are concluded in May 2019.
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Modi biopic producer Sandip Ssingh springs into action after Supreme Court directs poll panel to re-examine its order stalling the film’s release
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 16, 2019)

 In some relief to the makers of PM Narendra Modi, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the Election Commission (EC) to re-examine its earlier order of banning the biopic till the Lok Sabha elections. The poll panel has been instructed to make a decision by April 19 and submit its report to the court after watching the full movie. The matter will be heard on April 22. As Mirror had earlier reported (April 12) the Election Commission had withheld the release of the film arguing that it could disturb the level-playing field during the polls.

Producer Sandip Ssingh says the intention to move the Supreme Court was not to challenge the EC’s decision but to request for a release. “We are not challenging the law of the land or the EC’s decision. We simply put forth a request to the Supreme Court on Friday morning, and also forwarded our trailer and dialogue promos. On Monday, at the hearing, the Supreme Court directed the EC to watch the film and submit its report.”

The producer is confident that his film will be cleared. “The EC notice came a few hours before the release (April 11) and we suffered huge losses. This is the first time that despite being cleared by various High Courts and the Supreme Court and passed with a ‘U’ certificate from the censor board, a film’s release was stalled. I’m sure we will get justice now and can plan our release date. Despite curiosity among the audience to watch this film, the release has been pushed twice—April 5 and April 11. Our distributors are unhappy and the team is demotivated,” he sighs.

Sandip is now busy organising a screening for the EC. “We have done whatever is asked from us, now we will wait for them to give us a date. This screening will decide the future of our film. But we are hopeful the outcome will be positive,” he signs off.