MNS film wing asks channel not to air ‘anti-Shivaji’ content

Amey Khopkar of the MNS film wing said he warned the channel against telecasting the programme which showed Shivaji Maharaj dancing with Afzal Khan.

The film wing of Raj Thackeray-led MNS on Monday claimed it has ‘forced’ a TV channel not to air content which it felt was insulting Shivaji Maharaj.

This is not the first time that the Raj Thackeray-led outfit has used coercion to get its demands met. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT File Photo)

“I wrote to the channel, warning them against telecasting the programme which showed Shivaji Maharaj dancing with Afzal Khan,” Amey Khopkar of the MNS film wing told PTI.

“The channel informed me that they have decided not to air the portion, which was scheduled to be telecast on February 27 and 28,” Khopkar said.

This is not the first time that the outfit has used coercion to get its demands met.

In September, Khopkar, the MNS Chitrapat Sena president, had given a 48-hour deadline to Pakistani actors and artists to leave India.

The diktat came at a time when ties between India and Pakistan were particularly tense, after an attack by terrorists in Uri.

In January last year, the Raj Thackeray-headed political organisation had threatened to disrupt a proposed concert by ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali, if it was held in Mumbai. The MNS’ political rival, the Shiv Sena, had also joined in the protest. Ali’s concert was cancelled.

In October 2015, the MNS had refused to allow the screening of Pakistani actress Mahira Khan’s film “Bin Roye” in Maharashtra, while in 2012, Raj Thackeray slammed musician Asha Bhosle for working with Pakistani singers on a TV show aired on a channel.

The MNS Chitrapat Sena last year protested against the Marathi dubbed version of “MS Dhoni: The Untold Story”, saying dubbed movies would eat into the business of Marathi films.