“MSG The Messenger of God”, the controversial film of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, was released in the capital amid tight security with three halls in West Delhi opting not to screen the movie.
Wave Cinemas Raja Garden and Movie Time Cinemas in Rajouri Garden and Pitampura chose not to release the film in their theatres. “We are not releasing the film. Though we haven’t faced any protest here, we decided to be in the safer side by not releasing it as the film has some issues,” said Anuj Kumar, manager Movie Time multiplex.
Echoing the same sentiments, Deepak Kelkar, manager Wave Cinemas Raja Garden, said, “None of our theatres from Wave Cinema (in NCR) has released the film. We don’t want to take any unnecessary risk.” However, the film is running in other multiplexes of the city.
Singh, who was scheduled to address the media in PVR Rivoli, Connaught Place, has skipped the press conference without citing any reason.
“MSG The Messenger”, which was scheduled to hit theatres earlier in January, released worldwide today in Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.
Various radical Sikh organisations had been demanding ban on the film’s release saying it would pose a serious threat to the law and order situation. They had accused the Dera chief of projecting himself as messenger of god in the movie. “I am a fan of Babaji. I booked the ticket in January but it got cancelled. I somehow managed to get the ticket today in PVR Rivoli,” said Babu Ram from Shahdara, north east Delhi.
