The Dindoshi civil court on Thursday stayed the release of Swaha, a film revolving around blind faith of many disciples and depicting life of babas and sadhus.
The film was scheduled to release on Friday.
City-based trust, Aasaram Mahila Utthan Ashram, which looks after
administration of various Ashrams of the Aasaram Bapu sect, had filed the suit on Tuesday.
The trust has taken exception to a character shown in the film by the name of Asanandji Maharaj, reportedly resembling Aasaram Bapu.
Advocate Anjani Kumar Singh, who represented the trust, contended that the film was defamatory and undermining the dignity of Asaram Bapu. He added that the producer, Pravin Bharadwaj, was unnecessarily depicting a character resembling Asaram Bapu and has used replica of Bapu’s ashrams.
Advocate Singh said although disciples of Bapu came to know about the movie in mid-February, the scheduled date of the film’s release was not known. The civil court has passed the interim order in absence of the producer. A defamation suit seeking Rs 1 lakh is also filed in the court.