The Election Commission has deferred the release of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the biopic on the current prime minister, till after the Lok Sabha elections. The general elections will be help over seven phases and will begin this week and end May 19th. Results are expected on 23rd May. The stay in the release of the Modi biopic comes barely days after the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking a ban on the film’s release.
An NDTV report says that the EC considers the movie will disturb the level playing field. Any “biopic material in the nature of biography/hagiography sub-serving the purposes of any political entity or individual connected to it, which is intended to, or which has the potential to disturb the level playing field during the elections, should not be displayed in the electronic media including cinematograph during the operation of MCC,” it said.
Earlier, the makers had planned to release the movie on April 5. But, they failed to obtain clearance from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), and thus there was a delay and the film was to release on April 11, incidentally the first release date the makers announced.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court had dismissed a plea by a Congress leader seeking a postponement of the release. The Supreme Court said that “too much of the court-time has been wasted on these non-issues.” The CBFC certified the movie shortly after this. However, the court had left it to the EC to decide the fate of the movie.
In the past separate Public Interest Litigations (PIL) were filed in the Bombay and Delhi High Courts deferring the release of the movie, both of which were dismissed. The petitioner who filed a plea at the Delhi High Court had sought a stay on release till the general election results are announced on May 23.
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It stated that the title of the film was itself a clear violation of the model code of conduct as it was the name of a contesting candidate. The plea also sought action from the Election Commission. The Delhi High Court, while rejecting the petition said that “We are not going to interfere with this. You go to the censor board or the Election Commission.”
Directed by Omung Kumar, the biopic traces Modi’s life from his entry into politics till the 2014 general elections. Along with Vivek Oberoi, actors Zarina Wahab, Prashant Narayanan, Boman Irani, Barkha Bisht and Manoj Joshi play supporting roles.
Image Courtesy: NDTV