While many in India say Goddess Sita was born in Sitamarhi in Bihar people of Nepal say that she was born in Janakpur, Nepal

There’s been a buzz surrounding the movie “Adipurush” in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Mayor Balen Shah took to his social media platforms on Thursday to express his discontent with a dialogue in the film that referred to Sita as ‘a daughter of India.’

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Shah also said that if the disputed sentence is not removed, not only from the censored version intended for Nepal but from the entire film itself within three days, no Hindi film will be permitted to be screened in Kathmandu.

This move by the mayor led to a hurdle for the movie, as the Nepali Censor Board initially refused to grant it a pass certificate.

The board took a strong exception to the dialogue and made it clear that the film will not receive a pass certificate unless the dialogue is removed.

Under the guidance of Anil Kumar Dutt, the joint secretary of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, the film underwent the censoring process on Thursday afternoon.

The decision reached during the process emphasized that the word ‘Indian’ in the dialogue, where Janaki is referred to as an Indian daughter, must be muted or beeped out in order to get permission for the film’s public screening.

Various politicians also expressed their views against the Indian film, stating that Goddess Sita is the daughter of Nepal and was born in Janakpur.

The controversial dialogue was eventually removed from the film, following which the Nepali Censor Board granted permission for the release of “Adipurush.”

However, the Movie Association, the umbrella organization of film halls, issued a circular to all theaters nationwide, instructing them to halt the morning show of ‘Adipurush’ within the Kathmandu Valley and closely monitor the situation outside the valley.

Due to safety concerns, prominent multiplexes in Kathmandu, including QFX, Big Movies, and One Cinemas, decided not to screen the morning shows on Friday.

With the suspension of screenings, the halls have made arrangements to refund tickets sold for the morning show or, if the show is sold out, to arrange for an alternative screening. According to box office data from the Film Development Board, it has been observed that tickets for “Adipurush” worth Rs. 15 lakh (approximately 6,000 tickets) had been sold as of Thursday night.