In a late Friday night development, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati banned the screening of Bollywood's much-awaited film -
Aaja Nachle - in the state over an alleged derogatory insinuation to Dalits in a song.
The film, which marks the return of Bollywood queen Madhuri
Dixit, was released on Friday and expected to be a hit at the box office.
Mayawati also shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to ban the movie across the country.
The chief minister has taken strong exception to a particular line in a song, which, according to her, was derogatory to a section of Dalits.
Principal secretary to the chief minister Shailesh Krishna told IANS: "A song in the movie contained certain derogatory insinuations against a particular Dalit community, which was also in violation of the spirit of the Indian Constitution."
Confirming enforcement of the government order, Lucknow District Magistrate Chandra Bhanu said, "We have already ensured that the screening of the film is stopped with immediate effect."
According to him, "All current shows of the film in different movie halls have been stopped."