Paresh Rawal on House stage with script Bajrang Dal opposed

Rawal and minister Sanjeev Balyan meet young visitors to Parliament. (Source: IE photo by Anil Sharma)

A critically acclaimed play on which the Akshay Kumar-Paresh Rawal film Oh My God was based — a film that faced criticism from right-wing groups over what they perceived as anti-religious content — will be staged in Parliament on Wednesday before an audience that will include MPs of both Houses.

Rawal, who is a BJP MP, and his troupe will stage Kishan v/s Kanhaiya in the Balyogi Auditorium of Parliament Library Building.

The symbolic significance of staging this particular play on complex is difficult to miss given the objections it had faced from right-wing organisation such as the Bajrang Dal over the portrayal of matters relating to religion in Oh My God, in which Rawal played the protagonist who lodges a court case against “God” after his shop is destroyed in an earthquake.

Several organisations had protested against alleged derogatory references to Hindu deities in the film, leading to skirmishes with law-enforcement agencies in many parts of the country when the film was released in 2012. The movie could not be screened in states such as Punjab.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s office has already dispatched invites to all MPs and several dignitaries for the 2½-hour play. The Welfare Branch of the Lok Sabha Secretariat has also invited “all the officers and staff” to watch the play “subject to exigencies of work”.

The cabinet, which usually meets on Wednesday evenings around 6.30 pm, is expected to meet in the morning now, giving rise to speculation that many ministers and even the Prime Minister could attend.

Also, not many MPs would want to miss the show. Sources in Parliament suggest that Rawal has declined to allow Lok Sabha TV to record the production, citing copyright.

Source:: Indian Express