The Producers Guild of India has condemned the ink attack on filmmaker Prakash Jha and ransacking of the sets of his directorial, Ashram season 3. Varun Dhawan has shared the reaction of the Producers Guild of India on his Instagram Stories.
On Sunday evening, Bajrang Dal activists ransacked the set of the third season of web series Ashram and threw ink on its producer-director Prakash Jha after accusing him of portraying Hindus wrongly. The windscreens of two crew buses were broken in stone pelting and one person was injured, police had said.
The statement read: “The Producers Guild of India strongly condemns the brazen acts of violence, harassment and vandalism faced by the crew involved in the production of the series Ashram in Bhopal.”
“Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident and the Guild is alarmed to note the frequency with which both the production and exhibition sectors are severely and illegally disrupted by various elements with impunity.”
It continued, “Content production contributes significantly to local economies, generates employment and promotes tourism which is why authorities in India and across the world formulate policies to attract producers to their respective regions.”
“However. even more than incentives and benefits. the very minimum that production units should expect is for these authorities to provide the guarantees of safety and security for their units.”
The statement concluded, “We urge the relevant authorities to take immediate and strict action against the perpetrators of these acts of violence and to bring them to justice.”
Reacting to the same, filmmaker Hansal Mehta had tweeted on Monday, “No wonder films are shot in UK and other countries that don’t subject their artistes to such blatant harassment.” Reacting to the statement by the film body, e also said, “Dear @producers_guild, Please directly address the relevant authorities and demand action. These statements are pointless.”
Police had arrested four people for the incident. After the Sunday incident, Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra said on Monday that producers and directors will have to inform authorities about objectionable content or scenes in their stories before seeking permission for shooting in the state.
On Monday, a group of seers submitted a memorandum to BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur demanding the release of the men arrested for ransacking the set of Ashram-3 at the Old Jail in Bhopal’s Arera Hills.
Also read: Prakash Jha addresses controversies around Aashram: ‘Once people watch the show, they will realise there’s nothing to worry about’
Talking to reporters on the occasion, Pragya threatened to stop the shooting of the web series. She said, “An ‘ashram’ is an arrangement of sadhus under the Sanatan Dharma. It is not a subject that anybody can portray in a bad light. An ashram is not a subject on which anybody can raise a finger. A person can be wrong and action can be taken against such people under the existing system. But it will not be tolerable if anyone defames this (Ashram) arrangement of the Sanatan Dharma or Hindus and religious leaders.” She alleged that the image of the Sanatan Dharma was being maligned in the name of entertainment.
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