Activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) are at it again and this time, their demand was that more Marathi films should be screened at the theatres.
MNS members stormed into several movie halls in the city and in Thane on Saturday, throwing stones and tearing down movie posters. Even as screenings were disrupted at theatres in Kandivli, Dadar and Thane, viewers did not seem to support the cause. "I don't know why people who have paid to watch a film should be inconvenienced,'' said a visitor to a Kandivli (E) theatre.
"If more and more people go to watch Marathi films at theatres, the number of screenings will automatically go up. Hall owners want to make profits. If they are screening more Hindi and English films than Marathi movies, then it means that there is more demand for Hindi and English films than those in Marathi.''
Logic and reason, however, fell casualties as MNS workers took to strong-arm tactics. The Shivaki Park police had to rush to Nakshatra Mall in Dadar where the box office were pelted with stones.
"We got a call from the theatre management, saying a group of men had thrown stones at the box office. However, by the time our team reached the spot, none of the goons was around. No case has been registered,'' said senior inspector Suresh Unavne.
MNS workers vandalised a theatre at Growel's Mall in Kandivli (E) where they shouted slogans and tore down Hindi film posters, triggering panic among patrons. In the melee, a plastic counter selling confectionery was damaged.
The party's general secretary, Pravin Darekar, submitted a letter to the cinema hall management, enquiring why Marathi films were not being screened there despite the state rule. (According to a state government rule, a theatre is supposed to screen 44 shows of a Marathi film in a year.)
After a discussion with the management, the MNS workers dispersed. "We are yet to decide if a case can be filed against the MNS men. No one is willing to press charges against them,'' an official from the Samata Nagar police station said.
MNS functionaries also targeted the multiplex at Eternity Mall in Thane where a group tore down the posters of non-Marathi movies. "No poster of a Marathi movie is ever displayed like that of Hindi or English films,'' said MNS activist Omkar Mali. "Marathi films are screened only once a day and that too, in a latenight show. All we are asking them is to go by the rule and ensure that there are three or more shows.'' The Thane police have arrested five persons.