Majidi, whom we know as a sensitive cinematic chronicler of childhood from films like The Children of Heaven, doesn’t let his reverence for the figure of the Prophet Muhammad get in the way of a sensitive portrayal, or vice versa. It is intimate, familial, affectionate, loving, and shows a boy growing up to become a caring, thoughtful and compassionate young person, in circumstances that are often difficult. The film is made by a devout Muslim, and concerns itself mainly with the events of the infancy and childhood of the boy who would grow up to be the prophet Muhammad. I have seen Majid Majidi’s film, and I have found nothing disrespectful, objectionable, or hateful in this film. In India, though this move, in this instance, has been prompted by a Sunni Muslim initiative, it will empower, most of all, Hindu fundamentalist and terrorist organisations in their ongoing culture wars against the peoples of India.Īlso read: I Don’t Believe in Crushing Thoughts Opposed to Mine: Folk Singer, BJP Leader Kalpana Patowary If this goes through, any religious group, can blackmail any authority, to enforce their agendas on to an unwilling public. It represents the willingness of the Government of Maharashtra to be blackmailed by a group of religious zealots who are eager to impose their preferences on to everyone else. I think this attempt at putting into effect a kind of blanket censorship of a film on social media platforms is totally condemnable and if allowed to pass unchallenged, sets a terrible precedent for what might just be normalised in terms of restraints placed on viewing cultures around the moving image in India. This ‘ban’, in my view, needs to be resisted and challenged, categorically, and without qualification. to ban the release of the aforesaid movie.” It’s also requested to issue instructions/directions to all Digital Platforms like Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat etc.
Prophet muhammad the movie movie#
The home minister of Maharashtra, Anil Deshmukh, has also been persuaded to write a letter to the central government’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology saying, “We request you to block/suspend those digital platforms where the movie would be released on the probable date of 21st July 2020 under section 69A and the blocking rules of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Information Technology Act (Amendment) 2008. Rahman, the popular music director of Bollywood as well as South Indian cinema, who has composed the musical score for Majidi’s film. They have also advocated a social boycott of A.R. Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi’s 2015 film, Muhammad: The Messenger of God, the first of a projected trilogy on the life of the Prophet Muhammad, was supposed to be released online in India on the Don Cinema platform on July 21.Īnticipating this, a group of self-proclaimed Barelvi Sunni zealots associated with an organisation known as the Raza Academy in Mumbai have been able to successfully petition the government of Maharashtra to ‘ban’ the online release of the film in advance, which the state government has done.