The Uttar Pradesh (UP) police have issued an alert over the forthcoming release of a Hindi movie about a love story between a Hindu youth and a Muslim girl and set in the backdrop of the Babri mosque demolition, an official said on Tuesday.
Though the movie, Game of Ayodhya, was cleared by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) the censor board refused to allow its release. However, the release date of the movie is said to be December 8.
The development comes in amid heightened tension in the state over the Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus Padmavati which has angered the Rajput community across the country.
The BJP, the ruling party in UP as well as the Centre, is seen as backing the protests against alleged distortion of history and portrayal of the former queen of Mewar in a bad light.
A senior police official said the director general of police has issued an alert to all district police chiefs to be watchful around the time the movie is released in the state.
The trailer of the film, which stars Makrand Despande in a lead role, featured some actual speeches made by political leaders before the Mughal-era mosque was demolished by a Hindu mob on December 6, 1992.
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had refused to give the film a green signal on the grounds that the “subject of the temple-mosque dispute was provocative, had defamed individuals, and had the potential to stoke communal passions”.
After the FCAT clearance earlier this month, director Sunil Singh said in a statement that the film is “full of entertainment and will also educate about how the fateful day in 1992 changed the lives of many”. Singh also plays a role in the film.
It is still not clear if the UP police would allow an all-India release of the movie or go for a selective release like in the case of the film ‘Muzaffarnagar – A Burning Love’ based on the 2013 riots of Muzaffarnagar which left several dead and displaced hundreds of people.
