Mumbai: The Mahim police booked filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar under sections dealing with obscenity and child pornography on Wednesday, in connection with his recently released film, ‘Nay Varan Bhat Loncha Kon Nay Koncha’.
Earlier, an NGO had moved court seeking registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against the filmmaker, based on which the FIR was registered under IPC sections 392 (sale, distribution of obscene content) and 34 (common intention), along with section 14 (punishment for using child for pornographic purposes) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences act (POCSO) section and Information Technology Act sections for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form (section 67 and 67B).
Apart from Manjrekar, the film’s producers, Narendra Hirawat and Shreyas Hirawat, along with co-producer Vijay Shinde have been named in the FIR, a copy of which is with The Free Press Journal.
When the FPJ contacted Manjrekar, he said, “We make a film and if any person files a case what can we do, we will deal with them in accordance with the law.”
The film was released on January 14 with ‘A’ certification; however it’s the trailer that had triggered controversy and criticism.
Bharatiya Stree Shakti, an NGO which works for women’s empowerment, had filed a complaint with the National Commission for Women (NCW) and moved court when police failed to take cognizance of their complaint. They have also demanded the booking of the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for inaction.
“It wasn’t a fight against any individual but we don’t want this to be repeated. In the movie, children were depicted indulging in sexual activities, which itself is a crime,” said complainant Seema Deshpande, President, Bharatiya Stree Shakti.
Advocate Prakash Salsingikar, who represented the case in the court said that Wednesday’s development would act as a deterrent and anyone trying to depict children indulging in obscenity would think twice before they did so, he said.
