News Analysis India

Tag: Ritesh Sidhwani

  • Coordinate with police on shooting schedules in Mumbai: Uddhav tells film producers

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday asked film and television producers, who demanded an extension of the duration of shootings beyond the 4 pm deadline, to coordinate with the police about the place and timing of their shooting schedules in and around Mumbai.

    Addressing members of the Film Producers Guild virtually, the CM told them to ensure that regular COVID-19 detection tests are conducted, guidelines followed, and vaccination of cinema artists and workers is expedited.

    Filmmakers Rakyesh Om Prakash Mehra, Ritesh Sidhwani, Nagraj Manjule, Subodh Bhave, Ravi Jadhav among others participated in the meeting, also attended by Mumbai police commissioner Hemant Nagrale and members of the state COVID-19 task force.

    The Guild sought an extension of the duration of shootings beyond 4 pm and assured that they would continue to follow the COVD-19 norms, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said in a statement.

    The CM told them that Maharashtra is among the states where the number of new infections is not coming down.

    Despite a bio bubble system for sports events, there is a spread of coronavirus, the release quoted the CM as saying.

    Thackeray said the Maha Vikas Aghadi government is treading cautiously on relaxing the restrictions as the primary concern is the welfare and health of citizens.

    “Mumbai Police will seek details of the shooting locations and timings. A nodal officer should be appointed to ensure all COVID-19 rules are followed,” the CM said.

    Maharashtra on Friday reported 7,761 new COVID-19 cases and 167 deaths which took the state’s infection tally to 61,97,018 and the death toll to 1,26,727, as per the health department.

  • Row over Mirzapur web series: Allahabad HC stays arrest of Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar

    By PTI
    ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad High Court on Friday stayed the arrest of ‘Mirzapur’ web series producers Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar while asking them to join the investigation by the police in the case lodged against them.

    A bench of justices Manoj Kumar Gupta and Subhash Chand gave the relief to the two on a plea by them challenging the FIR registered at the Kotwali Dehat police station in Mirzapur on a complaint accusing them of wrongly depicting the eastern UP district, sullying its image.

    The complaint also accused them of committing offences under sections 295 A, 504, 505 and 34 of the IPC for allegedly outraging religious sentiment by their deliberate acts, insulting somebody to provoke breach of peace, committing public mischief and committing a criminal act with joint liability respectively.

    The FIR also listed section 67 A of the Information Technology Act against them accusing them of publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form.

    The court after saying arrests of Sidhwani and Akhtar adjourned the hearing of their pleas to the first week of March.

    The court also issued notices to the state government and the complainant on the duo’s plea for the annulment of the FIR against them.

    The counsel for Sidhwani and Akhtar argued in the court that even if all the allegations in the FIR were accepted as true, no case was made outr against the petitioners.

    There is no allegation that this web series was created with an intention to hurt the religious and social sentiments of citizens.

    The court, after hearing arguments of the parties concerned, stayed their arrest and asked police to take no coercive action against them.

    Mirzapur is an action crime thriller web series being screened on OTT Amazon Prime Video.

    The script of this web series was written by Karan Anshuman along with Puneet Krishna and Vineet Krishna and it was produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar.