The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait have decided to ban the Salman Khan-starrer God Tussi Great Ho from screening at the cinemas. The film is a remake of 2003 Hollywood film Bruce Almighty and it also stars Amitabh Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra. It was banned due to violations of Islamic teachings as declared by Adil Al Marzouki, mufti at Dubai Islamic Affair and Charitable Activities. Incidentally, the original Hollywood flick ran in Dubai with cuts while it was banned in Kuwait. “Such films should not be released anywhere in the world because they are not only against Islamic teachings, but are against the teachings of all heavenly religions,” the mufti reasons to the Khaleej Times.
Those who watched the movie complained to the authorities as they found Amitabh Bachchan’s role as “God” offensive. A spokesperson from Eros International, the company that has distributed the rights of the film, confirmed the news. “They are objecting to some lines in which Salman challenges God (Amitabh Bachchan),” he said. Interestingly, Rishi Kapoor has also played “God” in Kunal Kohli’s Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic that released on June 27th.
Meanwhile, the Kuwait National Cinema Company (KNCC) said it was receiving many calls after the movie was banned. “We received a lot of calls from cine-goers as to why the film was not being screened in Kuwait,” an official at KNCC told the Arab Times. According to reports, the pirated copies of the film are being sold for free in the UAE and Kuwait. A source at the NMC revealed to Khaleej Times that the council would arrive at a final decision whether to screen back the film by censoring the inappropriate portions or ban it completely.
