New Delhi, Oct 13 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the producer of “Mirzapur: The Movie” to donate Rs 50,000 to the Army Welfare Fund over the use of the song ‘Shoorveer’ in the film’s climax, after it was submitted that the song had been voluntarily removed.
A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the use of the song, associated with the valour of Maharana Pratap and his followers, as background music in the climax of the movie.
The counsel appearing for the film’s producer told the High Court that the song had been removed from the film on September 17 and was no longer being played in the movie.
In its order, the Delhi High Court recorded the submission made on behalf of the respondent that, in view of its conduct, an amount of Rs 50,000 would be voluntarily donated to the Army Welfare Fund within one week.
The ACJ-led Bench directed that the acknowledgement of the donation be placed on record within two weeks, cautioning that failure to do so would lead to the matter being listed for reconsideration, limited to the aspect of costs to be paid by the respondent.
“If the acknowledgement is produced, the order directing disposal of the present petition shall govern the proceedings,” the High Court said.
During the hearing, the Delhi High Court observed that had the song not been removed voluntarily, it would have directed its removal.
The petition alleged that ‘Shoorveer’, originally created as a tribute to Maharana Pratap, had been used in a gangster sequence in a manner that glorified criminals and hurt public sentiments.
Directed by Gurmmeet Singh, the film is presented by Amazon MGM Studios in collaboration with Excel Entertainment. Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar have jointly backed the project under the Excel Entertainment banner, with Kassim Jagmagia and Vishal Ramchandani serving as co-producers. The film adaptation of the popular series saw the return of Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Divyenndu, Rasika Dugal, Shweta Tripathi, Shriya Pilgaonkar and Harshita Gaur, while Jitendra Kumar and Ravi Kishan are among the new additions to the cast.
–IANS
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