Don’t release daayan film without clearance: NCW

We had earlier reported that Ipshita Roy Chakraverti, the wiccan, had complained to the National Commission for Women (NCW) that Ekta Kapoor and Vishal Bhardwaj’s Ek Thi Daayan was “regressive and was reviving long-forgotten atrocities committed on women by accusing them of being dayaans”.
Following this, the makers were asked to attend a meeting with the NCW in Delhi, which took place on Tuesday, to discuss the issue. Both Vishal and Ekta chose to give this meeting a miss, and instead, sent their lawyers for it. In the meeting held between NCW chairperson Mamta Sharma, NCW member Nirmala Samant Prabhavalkar, and the lawyers, the commission asked for the filmmakers to produce a CD of the film for clearance and also wrote a letter to the Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) asking for a stay on the release of the film until it is cleared by the NCW. Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor and Vishal Bhardwaj have been asked to be present for the next meeting, which is expected to happen in a few days from now.
In the meeting, the lawyers said that the movie was a creative endeavour and that it has already been submitted to the CBFC for clearance. Ipshita, in her letter to the NCW (a copy of which is with us), also mentioned an invitation sent to the members of the press that was titled “Bus To Hell”.
Ipshita had written that “this raises images of the unfortunate Delhi gang-rape victim who met her deadly and brutal assailants while on a bus which did take her to a Hell. Are they trying to associate daayans with this sort of Hell then, implying that daayans lead you to this Hell?” Based on the complaint, the NCW has asked the filmmakers for an ‘explanation’ of the ‘Bus To Hell’ invite.