SMASH HIT? A mobile hoarding for the movie attacked at the Andheri flyover

THE TIMES OF INDIA (February 11, 2010)

Mumbai: Chief minister Ashok Chavan has said, “It’s my wish that this (the controversy over the SRK-starrer ‘My Name Is Khan’) should be sorted out with mutual understanding. The common man should not be made to suffer because of this ongoing controversy. The police department is taking stock of the situation and adequate security arrangements will be made for the release of film.’’

State home minister R R Patil, too, assured film distributors of adequate security. “Those who want to protest against the film can do so but it should be done peacefully and not by disturbing law and order,’’ Patil said. “We will spare no one guilty of lawlessness,’’ he added.

However, the CM’s and the home minister’s statements failed to evoke much confidence. It wasn’t that the state government and the police machinery did not walk the talk. But an uneasy calm prevailed near cinema halls and most theatres didn’t sell a single ticket in the city, Thane and Navi Mumbai.

Shiv Sainiks came prepared to vandalise Kasturba theatre in Malad on Wednesday afternoon. “Twenty-five persons were nabbed before they could tear up posters or smash glass panes. The accused included a vibhag pramukh, a shakha pramukh and four women,’’ an official said. Another group damaged some hoardings on the Western Express Highway—away from any multiplex or single-screen theatre—in Andheri and a band of More >