Earlier today, the first poster of the Arjun Kapoor – Parineeti Chopra starrer Namaste England was released. With both the actors taking to social media to share the same, the poster of the Vipul Shah film, quickly became viral. Adding to this was the obvious festive spirit with Independence Day round the corner, however for one Twitter user the I-Day celebrations were certainly dampened, especially with the poster of Namaste England cutting out a portion of India on a map featured in the poster.
In fact, clearly visible on the right side of the poster is an outline map of India that does not feature the Aksai Chin region in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The said misrepresentation of the Indian map could well spell legal trouble for the film and its makers since the government of India has strict guidelines when it comes to mapping India’s external borders. Though there has been no official statement released by the makers of Namaste England, as per the law misrepresentation of the Indian map is regarded as a violation of the National Map Policy that was introduced in 2005. Apart from this, the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1961, criminalises the act of misrepresentation of India’s external boundaries that comes with a punishment of imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or both.
While this misrepresentation can certainly spell a lengthy and costly legal battle for the makers of Namaste England, it should be noted that a complaint against the makers for this misrepresentation can be lodged only by the government of India. For the uninitiated, the Askai Chin region has been a disputed border between India and China since the 1962 war. Post the war both countries broke off diplomatic relations leaving the ceasefire line undefined.
As for the film itself, Namaste England is said to be a romantic comedy directed and co-produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah. A sequel to the 2007 film Namastey London, the film stars Arjun Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra and Aditya Seal.
