On March 13, a pre-release screening of Bastar: The Naxal Story was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s (JNU) Convention Centre auditorium. The screening, organised by the Rashtriya Kala Manch, led to widespread uproar as the varsity’s election committee had not granted permission for it. Moreover, Sudipto Sen’s directorial venture—which focuses on the Maoist insurgency, and alleges that students at JNU had ‘celebrated’ the killing of 76 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans—was viewed by many as a means to influence the JNU Students’ Union elections that is slated for March 22. In the latest development, the screening has evoked such polarising response that the Rashtriya Kala Manch has pre-emptively cancelled the screening of another controversial movie, JNU: Jahangir National University. 

The title of director Vinay Mishra’s upcoming movie— starring Ravi Kishan, Piyush Mishra and Urvashi Rautela—is a blatant wordplay on the prestigious university in Delhi. A student, on condition of anonymity, tells mid-day, “It has been unanimously decided that the film won’t be screened. Regardless of which party wins the student election, slander against the university’s name will not be tolerated.”