Supreme Court asks Election Commission to watch PM Narendra Modi biopic and review its decision

Vivek Oberoi plays PM Narendra Modi in Omung Kumar's film.

Supreme Court has asked Election Commission to watch PM Narendra Modi biopic before taking a call on the fate of the film. The decision has come three days after the makers of Omung Kumar's PM Narendra Modi biopic moved the Supreme Court seeking a decision on the release of the film after Election Commission stalled it till the end of the Lok Sabha elections on May 19.

During the hearing of the case on Monday (April 15), senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the producers of the film, claimed that the poll panel had not watched the film. It was then that the Supreme Court asked Election Commission to not make a decision purely on the basis of watching a trailer. SC has now suggested EC to watch the entire film before taking a final call on the fate of the film.

Election Commission has been requested to take a decision by Friday (April 19) and submit the same to the court in a sealed cover. The next hearing will take place on April 22.

A day ahead of the official release (April 11) of PM Narendra Modi biopic, Election Commission stalled the release of Vivek Oberoi-starrer. It cited that the film has "the potential to disturb the level playing field during the elections", and therefore, "should not be displayed on electronic media".

However, producer Sandip Ssingh has maintained that it is not a propaganda film. In an interview to an entertainment website, he said that the PM Narendra Modi biopic would not sway voters in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Narendra Modi. "If that is the case, then why can't all the parties stop all the campaigning and just make films and influence the voters?" he questioned.

"It's very simple. It's a producer's job. I liked one story. When I liked the story of Aligarh, nobody questioned. When I liked the story of Mary Kom, nobody questioned. When I like Sarbjit's story, nobody questioned. So then why are they grilling on this film? Why are they scared? Why aren't they confident about the work they have done for the country and their respective states? They should worry about that, not about the film," he added.

SOURCE