The Matterden cinema hall in Lower Parel (earlier known as Deepak Talkies) cancelled the screening of the Aamir Khanstarrer PK after Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) wrote to the theatre owners threatening to damage property if the film continues to be screened.
Matterden director Pranav Ashar told Mirror that the staff expressed anxiety over possible violence by VHP activists, which led the management to cancel two shows on Sunday. He said, "We had to alert the cops and now the security around the theatre has been increased. We don't want our patrons to be inconvenienced, and hence took the decision to cancel the shows."
Ashar said they are yet to take a call on further screenings of the film. "We will evaluate the situation on Monday and take a decision. We are also looking at similar disruptions in other places."
He was referring an incident in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh on Sunday where a crowd of around 500 Bajrang Dal activists stormed a single-screen theatre, destroyed property and assaulted the manager.
"They have a very specific demand -- they want the scene showing Aamir's character chasing an actor playing Shiva into the toilet to be deleted. They also want the part cut out in which Aamir says people don't pee when they see a god photo on a wall, so they won't slap him if he pastes it on his face. We cancelled all shows for Sunday," a member of the Bhilai theatre management told Mirror.
The Bhilai theatre's owners have now written to PK director Rajkumar Hirani and producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra for support, and have also sought help from Chhattisgrah Chief Minister Raman Singh. Anand Rathi, who runs the Bhilai theatre, added, "We're figuring a way out. It has been a very scary situation but we are determined to run the film."