The Uttar Pradesh government will consider a ban on Mangal Pandey - The Rising starring Aamir Khan in the state if the movie did not exclude 'distorted historical facts' regarding the life of Pandey, the hero of 1857 First War of Independence, Minister for State for Cooperatives Shardanand Anchal said in Ballia on Sunday.
"The government will consider a ban on the screening of the film in the state if distorted historical facts are not taken out," Anchal told PTI.
Anchal said that the state government had taken the alleged distortion 'very seriously' and would like the director and producer of the film to 'correct them or else the film would be banned in the state'.
Convenor of the Mangal Pandey Manch and Samajwadi Party legislator Vikramaditya Pandey also said that party member of Parliament Janeshwar Mishra would be raising the matter in the Rajya Sabha.
The film could not be released in Mangal Pandey's native district Ballia following protests over 'distortion of facts'.
Local intellectuals, theatre personalities and students have launched a campaign against the film for what they termed
'distortion of historical facts and no reference to his native village, Nagwa' in the film.
They have been staging a protest since the past three days before the hall where the film was slated for release on Saturday, after which the management cancelled the shows.
The protestors also damaged a shop selling cassettes and CDs of the film in the district besides stalling a goods train on its way to Chapra (Bihar) for about half an hour and staged a sit-in on the Ballia-Barriya highway.
The administration was keeping a close watch on the situation, official sources said.
