EC Stays Trailer of Mamata Biopic, Asks Websites to Take It Down

A still from the movie trailer of Baghini – Bengal Tigress.

(Photo: Screenshot from the Mamata biopic trailer)

The Election Commission has asked three websites to take down the trailer of Baghini, which is said to be a biopic on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, India Today reported on Wednesday.

The Election Commission earlier was learnt to have initiated steps to take down the trailers of the biopic which had been released on some websites.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Mamata Banerjee reacted to the buzz around her alleged biopic, saying, “What is all this nonsense being spread! I have nothing at all to do with any biopic.” She added that if some young people had expressed themselves through some stories, it could not be related to her.

“I am not Narendra Modi,” she wrote.

EC Initiates Steps to Remove Trailers

After the chief electoral officer of West Bengal submitted a report on the biopic, the EC had initiated steps to ensure that the trailers are brought down.

Though the producer has claimed that it is slated for release on 3 May, an EC official said so far the Central Board for Film Certification has not issued it a certification, reported PTI.

The BJP had approached the poll panel seeking a ban on the release of the movie till the election process is over.

The last of the seven phases of the Lok Sabha election will be held on 19 May and counting will be done on 23 May.

The official cited the Commission's 10 April order banning the release of biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi till the elections are over, for initiating action on the Mamata Banerjee biopic.

In its order staying the release of the Modi biopic, the EC had said that "any biopic material in the nature of biography/hagiography sub serving the purposes of any political party or any individual entity connected to it, which is intended to, or which has the potential to disturb the level playing field during the elections, should not be displayed in electronic media including cinematograph during the operation of MCC".

Based on the same order, the EC had directed Eros Now to take down a web series on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all related contents till further orders, PTI reported.

The EC order said the streaming of five-episode web series, "Modi - Journey of a Common Man", should be "stopped forthwith".

(With inputs from PTI and India Today.)