Scribe quizzed by police for suggesting TMC MP’s film remake of Pakistani movie

KOLKATA: THE COMPLAINANT ACTOR DIPAK ADHIKARI, POPULARLY KNOWN AS DEV, IS ALSO A TRINAMOOL CONGRESS MP FROM THE GHATAL LS CONSTITUENCY

Indranil Roy, a film journalist with a Bengali daily, was questioned by officers of Kolkata Police for about four hours for forwarding on social media a comment that a yet-to-be-released Bengali film was a remake of a 2015 Pakistani movie.

The complainant actor Dipak Adhikari, popularly known as Dev, is also a Trinamool Congress MP from the Ghatal Lok Sabha constituency in Bengal’s East Midnapore district.

The film Hoichoi Unlimited that Roy twitted about features Dev and is expected to be released on October 12.

It is also produced and distributed by his outfit Dev Entertainment Ventures.

Dev lodged a police complaint on September 13. Roy was questioned the following day.

Adhikari, 35, made his debut in films in 2005.

Police slapped sections 66 (punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service) and 43 (penalty and compensation for damage to computer) of the Information Technology Act against Roy, and he was summoned to the Kolkata Police headquarters and grilled for four hours.

He was also booked under section 505 of the IPC that deals with statements conducing to public mischief.

This section, like section 66 of the IT Act, has provisions for both imprisonment and fine. “I was at the Kolkata Police headquarters for four hours between 2:05 pm and 6:10 pm. I explained what happened and that I was acting purely out of journalistic instincts,” said Roy.

One of the senior officers who spoke to him “sternly” asked him “not to take liberty with important persons.”

Praveen Kumar Tripathi, joint commissioner (crime) of Kolkata Police, who also spoke to Roy, did not take calls on Tuesday.

“I was concerned about my parents, especially my mother, who underwent a lot of tension. They certainly did not deserve it,” said Roy.

Durga Puja starts on October 15. Every year, a few films are released this time of the year. This year, too, a few films will be released, of which Hoichoi Unlimited is one.

“On September 13, I tweeted that two remakes would be released close to the pujas. One of these was Villain, an official remake. I was told that the other one Hoichoi Unlimited, in which Dev was featuring, was a remake of Jawani Phir Nahi Ani, which is the biggest grosser in Pakistani film industry,” said Roy.

Roy also said that the link between the Bengali film and the Pakistani hit (a film of a divorce lawyer who takes three friends on a trip to help escape their wives) was also stated in Wikipedia, something he remarked “journalists often refer to”.

On September 13, Roy also tweeted a screengrab from the Wikipedia page where it was said that the Pakistani film was remade as Hoichoi Unlimited.

“A little and a very learned birdie just informed, #Hoichoi Unlimited is a remake of the 2015 superhit Pakistani film #JawaniPhirNahiAni Before casting aspersions, trolls are requested to visit the Wikipedia site of the film. Was startled to know as nobody had any clue .... ” Roy wrote on Twitter.