Mangal Pandey not to air on television

Televisionpoint.com Team
The film Mangal Pandey-The Rising will not be telecast on the small screen at least till November, as disclosed in Delhi high court on Friday.

"There is no move on the part of defendant to telecast the film in question during November." said Bobby Bedi, the producer and others associated with the film in the undertaking through their counsel to the high court.

Justice A.K. Sikri while hearing the case allowed such undertakings, thus giving seal of the court not to telecast the film for such period. Tarique Siddique, appearing for petitioner Raghu Nath Pandey and Omkar Nath Pandey, the collateral descendants of the martyr alleged that the moves were underway to telecast the film on the television for which they had already made arrangements.

The allegation of the petitioner was countered by counsel Jyoti Balakrishnan appearing for Bedi and others. "There was no such plan underway to telecast the movie till the hearing of the case is complete", said Balakrishnan.

The case came up for hearing on an application filed by Bedi in the court seeking adjournment of the hearing till November 18 on ground that the counsel of the defendants was seized with some personal problems. The case was listed for hearing on November 8.

Countering the allegations of the petitioners, Bedi has termed the film as a sort of fiction not disparaging the character of the martyr.

"The interaction between Pandey (Aamir Khan) and Heera, the whore (Rani Muherjee) in the film has been shown only in five scenes throughout the two and half hour film" said the reply countering the petitioners allegation that the national hero has been shown regularly visiting kothas in the film.

"Only in his second meeting, Pandey has been shown visiting kotha but it was merely a gesture of gratitude for opening his eyes and to ask her if she would like to escape. There is no sexual favours sought and no sexual or erotic connotation to the scene at all", Bedi said.

"The portrayal of Heera can not be viewed in a narrow and regressive way, but rather as a part of the narrative and powerful symbolism in the film" he further said in the reply. "The character of Heera was in fact envisaged and built upon as a symbol of the Indian condition during colonial rule" he added. Alleging the film as narrow by the petitioners does not match with the modern sensibility of the public said Bedi.

Petitioners had filed a suit in high court seeking ban on the film alleging it being an attempt of character assassination of 1857 war hero. Sony Entertainment Television holds the exclusive rights to telecast the movie.