Amid rising controversy, the release of 'PM Narendra Modi', which was earlier slated to hit the theatres on Friday, has been postponed.
The director of the film, Omung Kumar, told ANI, "It is not releasing tomorrow. But the film will release soon and everyone will get to know about it soon. We don't want to reveal the date right now. The opposition had come forward and tried things. It's late but we know what date to release it on."
Talking about the original release date of the film, Kumar said: "We started working on the film. We had decided that the film will come out sometime later this year or maybe next year. We began working on the film in January and thought the right timing to release the film will be sometime in April."
"We didn't know when the elections are taking place. It just fell at the same time. We shot the film in just 38 days and everything was planned and perfect," he added.
Talking about the controversy surrounding the film, the filmmaker also added that the movie is not made with the intention of influencing anyone and is not politically inclined.
"People are saying it is not a propaganda film and if I release the film, then voters will get influenced, then it is wrong," he said.
"I only want to work on inspiring stories and this is one of them," he added.
'PM Narendra Modi' has come under a cloud, with opposition parties claiming that its release was originally planned for April 5 with the intention of influencing voters in the Lok Sabha elections.
A special leave petition (SLP) was also filed in the Supreme Court recently, challenging the Bombay High Court order and seeking a stay on the release of the film.
The Bombay High Court, on April 1, had disposed of the PIL seeking a stay on the film's release.
The SLP demands an immediate stay on the release as an ad interim relief to the petitioners. The petition mentioned that high court has not taken all the aspects of the petition into consideration before rejecting the plea.
It also states that the film may influence the voters to vote in favour of a certain individual and that is a violation of the model code of conduct.
On Monday, the Bombay High Court disposed of the PIL seeking a stay on the film's release. The court noted that the Election Commission (EC) has already issued a notice to the makers of the film 'PM Narendra Modi' over allegations of breach of the Model Code of Conduct in view of the Lok Sabha elections.
Vivek Oberoi had taken potshots at the Congress party previously saying that its leaders were scared of the "Chowkidar's danda (watchman's baton)". He rejected allegations that the film's release violates the Model Code of Conduct, saying that the objective was simply to pay tribute to an extraordinary personality.
The film depicts the journey of Modi from his humble beginnings to his years as a chief minister and finally his landmark election as the Prime Minister. Oberoi is essaying the role of Modi.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
