There have been rumours going on since the past few weeks that Sai Dharam Tej’s film ‘Gaanja Shankar’ has been shelved. However, it now seems that the reports of the same stemmed from the fact that the makers of the movie have received a notice from the Anti-Narcotics Bureau of the state of Telangana.
As per reports, Sai Dharam Tej, director Sampath Nandi and producer Naga Vamsi have all been issued legal notices. The reason of all this is the title of the movie – ‘Gaanja Shankar’. It’s being assumed that there might be some imagery of drug consumption in the movie and the Anti-Narcotics Bureau wants the makers to refrain from such imagery, so as to not glorify the consumption of drugs in any way.
What Does The Notice Say?
Taking to X (Formerly, Twitter), the Anti-Narcotics Bureau wrote, “Director @TS_NAB Issued Notice to #GANJASHANKAR film Crew raising objection over title & content depicting character as Ganja business, its glorification. Request film fraternity sensitize the concerned to refrain from glorifying sale, consume etc, of NDPS Substance. @TelanganaDGP (sic).”
In the same notice, it was further stated by Sandeep Sandhilya, the director of the Anti-Narcotics Bureau, “In your movie, depicting the protagonist as engaging in ganja business and glorifying his acts and the title Ganja Shankar will create negative impact on the viewers, especially students and youth. We expect you to refrain from depicting any scenes in your movie where consumption, sale, peddling and supply of ganja is glorified and shown as a heroic act and you desist from having such scenes in your movie and to abstain from propagating such acts which will have deleterious effects on the young generation (sic).”
The Solution
Well, the entire issue might get solved by dropping the world ‘Gaanja’ from the film’s title. Also, if there are scenes of glorification of the Gaanja business in any way, those should be refrained from showcasing to the viewers. “You are also directed that the title Ganja Shankar should be changed and the word Ganja should be deleted from the title Ganja Shankar,” Sandeep Sandhilya further stated in the same notice.
The Anti-Narcotics Bureau has threatened to take further legal action against the aforementioned people if they fail to follow the guidelines mentioned by them in the notice. It will be done following the Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substances Act 1985. A copy of the notice was also sent to the Telugu Film Producers Council presidents, the Directors Association and the Movie Artist Association.
But Is The Film Getting Shelved?
Well, the rumours about ‘Gaanja Shankar’ getting shelved have been doing the rounds since a while. It was being said that there were budgetary constraints that were causing this. However, with the issue now being clear that the rumours arose after the people associated with the film got notices from the Anti-Narcotics Bureau, it is to be seen if the reports of the film shelving still persist. The makers have, however, not issued any clarification on the film getting shelved or not till now.
