Bajrang Dal workers, on October 24, vandalised the sets of filmmaker Prakash Jha’s season 3 of the series Ashram in Bhopal. The filmmaker was reportedly manhandled and his face was smeared with ink while some crew members were roughed up as well.
According to NDTV, videos filmed by the witnesses on their phones showed the members of the outfit chased down the crew members, managed to catch atleast one of them, and beat him with a metal light stand. “They made Ashram 1, Ashram 2 and were shooting Ashram 3 here. Prakash Jha showed in Ashram that the guru was abusing women. Does he have the guts to make such a film on a church or madrasa? Who does he think he is? Bajrang Dal challenges him, we won’t let him make this film. So far we have just blackened Prakash Jha’s face. We are looking for Bobby Deol. He should learn something from his brother (Sunny Deol). He made such patriotic movies,” Bajrang Dal leader Sushil Surhele said, as per the report.
The members of the mob alleged that the series was an assault on Hinduism and they will not allow the filming until the title of the series is changed. Reportedly, they were shouting the slogans like “Prakash Jha Murdabad”, “Bobby Deol Murdabad” and “Jai Shri Ram.” They reportedly attacked the Old Jail premises located in Arera Hills on Sunday evening.
Prakash Jha is yet to file an official complaint. Meanwhile, senior police officer Irshad Wali said they will take action against those who caused this vandalism and disrupted the shoot.