‘Pak posters’ disrupt ad film shooting
Film crew had allegedly placed Urdu banners, signs on religious landmarks
Shooting of an ad film was disrupted for putting up Urdu signboards with names of Pakistani cities and landmarks here on Tuesday.
Production house, Good Morning Films, was shooting for Volkswagen Polo Hatchback near City Palace when the incident happened.
In order to give the site, a feel of the place, the crew of the film placed Urdu banners and signs on temples, buildings and landmarks. The banners had writings such as ‘Welcome to Lahore’, ‘Karachi Sweets’ and ‘Rawalpindi Chai Wala’.
However, members of a local organisation ‘Dharohar Bachao Sangharsh Samiti’ didn’t like it and pulled down banners and posters although crew members were spared.
“They put up Urdu banners of Pakistani locations in Char Darwaza area. They had permission only for Chandini Chawk and City Palace but put up banners and posters across heritage buildings and temples at various places in the walled city,” Bharat Sharma, convener of the outfit, which was earlier active in the protest against demolition of temples for a metro project.
“They had permission but that does not mean they will put up banners above Anand Krishna Bihari temple and Brij Nidhi temple. It was not a short film or advertisement film. So, we talked to the crew members and asked them to discontinue the shooting,” he said.
“How can we tolerate banners with Pakistani names on our temples? They can’t hurt our religious sentiments when it was one of the main conditions,” he added.
Still, the film crew did not file complaint with the police. “Both sides resolved the issue amicably. An agreement was reached thus no complaint was filed,” police said.
After receiving information about the ruckus, the police reached the spot and brokers peace between the protesters and film unit.