Sambhaji Brigade disrupts Ae Dil Hai Mushkil shows

The Sarvoday Mall in Kalyan, where members of the Sambhaji Brigade protested against Karan Johar’s ADHM and vandalised it on Thursday. (Photo: Deepak Kurkunde)

Just days after it got registered as a political party, the Sambhaji Brigade hit the streets to announce its arrival in state politics. Its activists on Thursday staged protests against Karan Johar’s film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (ADHM) at Borivali and Kalyan. They also vandalised the multiplexes at these places by breaking the booking counter and pelting stones in Kalyan.

The protests took place during Thursday afternoon at Mexus Mall at Borivali and Sarvoday Mall in Kalyan West. The brigade members burnt posters of the movie at Borivali at 12.30 pm and vandalised property at Kalyan at 2 pm before fleeing the scene. The Sarvoday Mall authorities shut down the multiplex after the incident.

The Borivali police has arrested 10 members of the Sambhaji Brigade for rioting, trespassing and preventing government servant from performing his duty. “Our patrolling team immediately detained the rioting people. However, there was no vandalisation of property and inconvenience to people,” said Vasant Pingle, inspector at Borivali police station.

Defending the protests, Suhas Rane, central observer of Sambhaji Brigade, said, “We had already threatened to disrupt the shows of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil as it features a Pakistani actor. However, we had kept quiet during Diwali time so that people do not face any inconvenience. But as the film shows still continued, we decided to protest against it.”

The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) was the first party that had opposed the shows of ADHM citing the presence of Pakistani actor Fawad Khan in it. Jumping on the bandwagon, the Sambhaji Brigade had also staged a silent protest against the release of the movie during the Diwali week. They had warned to disrupt the film shows after Diwali if the mall authorities did not stop screening the movie.

Officials from Mahatma Phule police station, Kalyan, said no arrests have been made so far. “We have started registering complaints against the accused and will book them soon,” said the police official.