On the 15th of April, the Supreme Court (SC) asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to watch the biopic PM Narendra Modi and then pass a ruling.
This move by the SC comes after the producers of PM Narendra Modi filed a plea against the ban issued by the ECI on the release of the biopic.
Post complaints filed by Arun Panwar, a senior member of the Indian National Congress (INC,) the ECI passed a judgment, banning the release of the biopic. According to the ECI, the biopic would have a negative impact on the voters and influence them to change their decision.
Previously, two other biopics, Lakshmi’s NTR and Udyama Simham, faced trouble with the ECI regarding their theatrical release. Lakshmi’s NTR was based on the life of Telugu Desam Party founder N.T. Rama Rao and Udyama Simham was about the struggles K. Chandrashekhar Rao underwent for the formation of Telangana.
While passing its ruling regarding the ban of PM Narendra Modi right before the Lok Sabha elections, the ECI said, “Any biopic material in the nature of biography/ hagiography” is not going to be screened during the Lok Sabha elections while the Model Code of Conduct is being used.”
While the Model Code of Conduct doesn’t necessarily prohibit the screening of biopics about those contesting the elections, the ECI used the help of a special Article of the Constitution of India, Article 324, to prevent biopics from being screened between the 11th of April and the 23rd of May.
In a separate development regarding the manner, the ECI passed a ruling, saying a web series about the life of PM Narendra Modi was being screened, without permission from the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC.) The ECI is yet to take a call about this web series.
Stay tuned for further updates.
