Game of Ayodhya row: Activists lock director’s house, threaten to set theatres on fire

The activists claim the movie wrongly depicts that Lord Ram’s statue was installed in a ‘deceitful’ manner in Ayodhya.

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM) activists on Sunday locked the house of Sunil Singh, the director of the movie Game of Ayodhya.

Sunil Singh makes his directorial debut with The Game of Ayodhya. (File)

The activists claim the movie wrongly depicts that Lord Ram’s statue was installed in a ‘deceitful’ manner in Ayodhya.

They threatened if the film was released on December 8, they will set cinema halls and the director’ house on fire.

ABVP and HJM have been protesting against the film, saying it is a conspiracy against the Hindu religion. State organising secretary of ABVP Amit Goswami had earlier announced a bounty for cutting off the hands of Sunil Singh. Effigies of Singh were burnt in Aligarh while the HJM took out a mock funeral procession of the director.

Sunil’s debut film, Game of Ayodhya, traces a Hindu-Muslim romance set against the backdrop of the Babri Masjid demolition.The film was cleared for a December 8 release by the Film Certificate Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) after being refused certification by the Central Board of Film Certification.

Singh, meanwhile, said the protests had no meaning without people watching the movie. “The protestors want to brighten their political careers,” he said, adding that he would visit Aligarh on December 4 or 5 and screen the movie for the professors of Aligarh Muslim University first.

The Hindu Yuva Vahini has submitted a memorandum (addressed to the home minister) to the district magistrate as part of its protest against the movie.