Congress Protests Halt Screening of 'The Accidental Prime Minister' in Two Kolkata Theatres

Kolkata: The screening of 'The Accidental Prime Minister' was stopped at two single-screen theatres and one auditorium of a multiplex chain here on Saturday following protests by the Youth Congress against the controversial film.

"We've stopped screening of the film from today, the second day after its release, apprehending (any) untoward incident after parts of a screen were torn up in a multiplex in a mall at Park Circus," Navin Chokhani, the owner of single-screen Navina Cinema, said.

The movie's screening was stopped, though its 2-pm show on the first day had passed off smoothly, Chokhani said.

A spokesperson of Ashoka Cinema, the other single screen where the film was stopped, said, "We have decided to suspend the matinee show of 'The Accidental Prime Minister' from today in view of the agitations by some group."

The Bollywood film is based on the memoir of the same name by Sanjaya Baru, the media adviser to former prime minister Manmohan Singh.

On Friday, activists of the Congress' youth wing had staged protests against the movie outside an auditorium of a multiplex chain on Ganesh Chandra Avenue and tore the film posters.

Another group of the Youth Congress activists had stormed into the auditorium of the same multiplex chain at Park Circus during a late-evening show and allegedly tore parts of the screen.

The multiplex chain spokesperson said that the show of the film was cancelled from Saturday only at Hind -- its property on Ganesh Chandra Avenue -- and nowhere else in the city or in the suburbs.

"Yesterday, there had been an interruption around 8 pm at the Quest (mall in Park Circus). But the situation is under control now with the help of authorities. Shows are running as per schedule," the spokesperson said.

Screening of the film at the Park Circus auditorium will take place on Saturday evening as per schedule, he added.

The West Bengal Congress had disapproved the agitation by the youth-wing activists and asserted that the party would "never oppose" the freedom of speech.

"In the recent years, we have fallen victim to propaganda and we firmly believe that the people who watch the movie will see through the vile propaganda at play," the party had said in a statement.