Mithun and Dev-starrer Projapoti fails to find slot at Nandan theatre, stirs controversy

Projapoti, which stars Mithun Chakraborty and Dev, was not given a slot at the state-run theatre Nandan, and since then several political members have commented on the controversy.

Bengali film Projapati, that stars two of the biggest stars of the industry- veteran actor turned BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty and Tollywood star-turned-Trinamool Congress MP Dev, failed to find a slot at the state-run film theatre Nandan in the ongoing Christmas week and this has led to a controversy.

Projapoti stars Mithun Chakraborty and Dev in pivotal roles.

BJP, which is the opposition party in the state, added that the film was not meant to be shown in Nandan as it has the actor Mithun Chakraborty in a pivotal role. Meanwhile Dev, who is also one of the co-producers of the film, has not commented on the ongoing controversy but added that the film has been receiving a warm response in a lot of single screens as well as multiplexes in the state. The actor however shared that he was a little disappointed with the situation, and tweeted, "Will miss u Nandan this time No Issue Will meet again… End of Story."

BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh added on the conversation and told reporters, "the vindictive Mamata Banerjee government is interfering in people's right to watch films. This is dictatorship. The film has been excluded from Nandan as Mithun Chakraborty is in the lead. Is Nandan the fiefdom of the TMC regime? I feel sorry for a person like Dev, he must now realise that the party he represents in Lok Sabha does not believe in artistic freedom and the freedom of people to see the film they want. I have nothing against the other films chosen."

Kunal Ghosh, who is a TMC state spokesperson, said that the matter "was purely an administrative decision by Nandan. We have high regard for Mithun as an actor but as a BJP leader he has no credibility." He also added that the BJP should stop lecturing about concepts of freedom in arts given the manner in which the party and their other organisations deliberately add their own dogmatic imposition on the Bollywood film industry. Meanwhile, veteran CPI(M) leader Biman Bose commented on the current state that "the name of the cinema complex has only been retained by the present government. They have changed its character."

Earlier this year, Anik Dutta's film Aparajito, was also not screened at Nandan, even after the film having performed successfully at the box office. The director and actor Sayani Ghosh, who is also a TMC youth leader, had added their disappointment with the decision. Projapoti has released in state-run Nazrul Tirtha in New Town on December 23 and is running at several other single screen theatres in the state.

So far, mostly none of the stars from the Tollywood film industry has spoken on the controversy, except actor Kaushik Sen. The actor said, “I don’t know if there’s any politics behind Projapoti not getting any show at Nandan but people might suspect foul play. Beyond their political identities both Mithun Chakraborty and Dev are also actors and being an artist myself I have to criticize from the artistic point of view."

He added, "We have seen political influence on many things in Bengal over the years. I can’t say that it didn’t happen during the previous government’s tenure. I don’t want to speak about what happened in the past. My question is why should it happen – be it now or in the past? The things going on right now can’t be justified. We have seen the same thing previously with Anik Dutta’s Aparajito and this is not at all right.”