The Last Lear' to open in Maharashtra despite MNS threat

Mumbai, September 10: The producers of a new Amitabh Bachchan-starrer said on Tuesday the film would open in cinemas in Maharashtra this week despite a local political party's threat to boycott films by the actor and his family.

Raj Thackeray, head of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), had issued the boycott threat on Monday after Bachchan's actress-politician wife Jaya spoke in Hindi at a Bollywood function in Mumbai.

Jaya Bachchan said she would speak in Hindi as her family hailed from Uttar Pradesh, a state where the language is widely spoken.

The remark irked MNS, a proponent of Maharashtra’s state language Marathi. The party announced a boycott of films and products endorsed by any member of the Bachchan family -- Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya, their son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai.

Television reports on Monday said MNS party workers in Mumbai tore down posters of Amitabh Bachchan's The Last Lear, an English-language film slated for release on Friday.

But producers Planman Motion Pictures said there were no plans to delay the film’s release. "A film release is not based on emotional issues, there are practical and monetary considerations as well," said company CEO Shubho Shekhar Bhattacharjee.

"If the film’s release is delayed in Mumbai by a day or two due to this matter and we lose some money, so be it," he said. "If they have a problem they should sort it out personally."

The Last Lear director Rituparno Ghosh said the issue was a result of an "impulsive reaction" but declined to comment further.

In the film, Amitabh Bachchan plays a reclusive stage actor who quotes Shakespeare with relish and who -- somewhat reluctantly -- is making his movie debut at the age of 65.

Bachchan, who hails from Uttar Pradesh and found fame and fortune in Mumbai, has become a lightning rod for critics who say immigrants have sidelined local people from Maharashtra.

Jaya apologised for her remarks in an interview published in a news paper on Tuesday, saying she did not mean to hurt anyone’s feelings.

Last week, some MNS party activists were arrested for vandalising shops in the city after owners failed to put up signboards in Marathi language.


Courtesy:expressindia.com
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