Manmarziyan row: DC Jammu orders deletion of 4 scenes

JAMMU: Following strong resentment lodged by Sikh community in the city, the district authorities on Wednesday ordered deletion of four scenes from Anurag Kashyap's "Manmarziyaan" which released last Friday.

The order was passed by district magistrate, Jammu, Ramesh Kumar after a Sikh organisation in town made a representation before him, saying the film had hurt the religious sentiments of the community.
The community has objected to certain scenes which show the characters smoking.

The film, featuring Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal and Abhishek Bachchan, was released on September 14 and is being screened at different theatres in Jammu.

"It is hereby ordered that the four scenes that hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community be deleted or blocked from the film before it is screened in the cinema halls," the officials said quoting an order issued by the district magistrate.

Kumar directed the concerned Sub-divisional Magistrates, Tehsildars, Sub-divisional police officers and Station House Officers to ensure the compliance of the order.

The producers of the film, however, have already removed the portions that attracted controversy.

The makers approached the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) regarding the deletion of the scenes and according to a censor copy, the three deleted scenes include a 29-second smoking sequence of Abhishek, a minute long scene featuring Taapsee Pannu and Abhishek entering a gurudwara and an 11-second scene where Taapsee is shown smoking.

"We have removed the three scenes from the film as people's sentiments were getting hurt. The said changes have come into effect in metros from today and will reflect across India from the coming Thursday-Friday," a source from the production side told.

Director Anurag Kashyap also addressed the controversy, saying there was never an intention to cause any hurt to the community but the matter should not be politicised unnecessarily.