lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Apr 18, 2019 01:42 IST

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) have approached the Election Commission against the release of a Bengali movie the two parties allege is a thinly veiled biopic of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

The Bengali film, titled “Baghini — Bengal Tigress”, tells the story a girl’s rise to the position of a chief minister after overcoming political foes in a manner that is allegedly strikingly similar to Banerjee’s life, who fought the Left Front for three decades before wresting power in a historic victory in 2011. The film’s makers said they originally planned to release the movie ahead of the 2016 state assembly polls but now have scheduled it for May 3, three days ahead of the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal.

With teasers of the movie already out, the CPI-M alleged it was a “Mamata Banerjee biopic”. The party submitted a memorandum to the EC, seeking a stay on its release till the elections finish.

The BJP has also written to the poll watchdog. “We have submitted a letter to the EC and the Chief Electoral Officer in West Bengal requesting them to review the film Baghini before it is released on May 3 on similar lines that was done by the EC in the case of another biopic depicting Narendra Modi,” said BJP Bengal state committee member Shishir Bajoria, one of the signatories of the letter. The makers of the movie insist that it is not a biopic as name of the protagonist, played by threatre actor Ruma Chakraborty, is Indira Banerjee.