Sessions court refuses to ban 'Omkara'

MUMBAI: A Sessions court on Tuesday refused to ban Hindi film Omkara on the charge that its dialogues were vulgar and bad in taste.

The court has asked the film maker and director to file an affidavit by September 14 when the matter would be heard.

Hearing the petition, the court observed that it was not granting any ad-interim relief at this juncture and posted the matter for arguments on September 14.

Bollywood actor Naeem Khan had moved a city civil court seeking a ban on the film alleging that its dialogues were vulgar and bad in taste which depraved the minds of the audience and Indian culture.

The petitioner prayed that till the matter was finally heard and disposed of, the movie should be pulled out from theatres as an interim measure.

Khan, who is a small-time Hindi film actor, said in the petition that the first shot of the film, which stars Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan and Karishma Kapoor, which is immediately preceded by the national anthem, itself contains vulgar dialogues.

The petition also took objection to the word Om in the title of the film Omkara and prayed that the film makers may be asked to change the title.

Notices have already been served to producer Kumar Mangat, director Vishal Bharadwaj, distributor Devgan films and the Central Board of Film Certification and government of Maharashtra.