As per reports, a NGO ‘Sanatan Foundation’ moved the Gujarat High Court on September 14 seeking ban on the release of the film “Loveratri” on the ground that the film’s title hurts the religious sentiments of Hindus as it distorts the name of the pious festival of Navratri.
The PIL reportedly states that the producers scheduled the film’s release around the time of the Navratri festival. “In the name of artistic freedom, these types of filmmakers opt for controversial contents just to get negative publicity and to make their film famous rather than adding positive creativity. Therefore also, the movie in question should be stopped from being released,” the petition reads.
The petition further states that the film is a deliberate and malicious attempt on the part of its producers to hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus by distorting the meaning of pious Navratri. The PIL contends that film’s name “Loveratri” is similar to Navratri, which is pious and the most celebrated festival in Gujarat and across India and the sentiments of Hindus are attached to this pious word because this is a festival of the goddess Durga. It claims that the film’s title ‘Loveratri’, a spin on the Hindu festival “Navratri”, as well as some dialogues shown in the trailer were offensive.
The PIL contends that while Navratri is a pious festival, the name of the film conveys that it is all about getting “intimate”. As per some reports, the petitioners have urged the court to get the film’s producers to change the title and remove the content that hurts the sentiments of Hindus, as an alternative to a ban.
As covered earlier here, the sub-divisional Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate (East) Shailendra Rai has directed the Mithanpura police station in Muzaffarpur , Bihar to lodge an FIR, based on a complaint filed by Advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha alleging that the title and contents of the film ‘Loveratri’ hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus.
Earlier this month, a writ petition was filed by an advocate Ajaykumar Shankarrao Waghmare before the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court against the movie “Loveratri” alleging that the film distorts the festival ‘Navratri’ and is derogatory to all women. Few weeks back, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) had said that it wouldn’t allow screening of the movie as it might hurt the sentiments of Hindus.
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