Who is Balen Shah, rapper-turned-politician criticised for 'sexist' songs? He has banned Adipurush in this major city

Adipurush has courted controversy across India and beyond too. The Om Raut film has been stopped from screening in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. The reason behind the move is a line of dialogue that has been considered ‘objectionable’. Leading the charge against the film is Mayor of Kathmandu Balen Shah, a rapper-turned-politician.

Why is Adipurush banned in Kathmandu?

The trailer of Adipurush showed Raghava (Lord Rama), played by Prabhas, refer to Sita/Janaki as a daughter of India. Why the line becomes controversial is because there are multiple claims about where Sita came from. Most Indian mythologists and historians agree that Mithila is in modern-day east UP and Bihar, where the language Maithili is still spoken. However, Nepalese belief is that Sita came from modern-day Janakpur in Nepal. Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah was the first to oppose this line and said he would not let the film release in the country unless the line was removed.

Who is Balen Shah, controversial rapper-turned-politician?

Born in 1990, Balen Shah, also known as Balendra Shah, is the youngest son of Ayurvedic practitioner Ram Narayan Shah and his wife Dhruvadevi Shah. After finishing his schooling, he did his bachelors in civil engineering from Himalayan Whitehouse International College. He later received a master's degree (MTech) in structural engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) in Karnataka.

In his 20s, Shah turned to music, writing poetry and later rap. In 2012, he released his first single Sadak Balak. The following year, after his appearance on the YouTube battle rap series Raw Barz, he gained fame in the Nepali hiphop scene (called Nephop). Over the years, Shah has been criticised for some lyrics in his raps. Kantipur reported in 2022 that he faced allegations of including profane and misogynistic elements in his lyrics. In 2022, he attracted controversy over the use of a sacred crown in Nephopko Shreepech, a hip-hop reality TV show where he served as a judge. In 2022, Balen Shah contested and won the Kathmandu mayoral election. He was sworn in as mayor in May 2022.

Balen Shah’s opposition to Adipurush explained

Balen Shah said that the inclusion of the phrase about Sita being ‘India’s daughter’ in Adipurush is ‘objectionable’ and said that unless it is removed, the film – or any other Hindi film -will not be allowed to release in the Nepalese capital. On Friday, the Nepal Film Union also urged halls to stop screening of all Indian films, following which several major theatre chains stopped the screenings. This has meant that no Hindi films are screening in Kathmandu and many other major Nepal cities.