Mayor-in-council Atin Ghosh said although Star Theatre was owned by the KMC, it was not involved in the day-to-day affairs of the theatre.
The director claimed the censor board had not only cleared the film Teen Kanya without any cut but had also appreciated it. “A rumour has been doing the rounds that the movie is based on the Park Street rape case, which is not correct. Perhaps this perception led to the removal of the movie from Star,” he said, adding that he smelt a conspiracy against his film.
National Award-winning actor Rituparna Sengupta, who plays a pivotal role in the film, also expressed shock. “I never felt there was a political message in the film. People should have watched the film before taking a decision. The film was extremely well received by the audience and the shows on Saturday had been booked in advance,” she said.
Another leading actor in the film, Ananya Chatterjee, argued that if there had been any anti-government reference in Teen Kanya, the education minister would have raised objections.
The state government faced flak from the Opposition as well as civil society. Rebel Trinamul Congress MP Kabir Suman said the incident betrayed the growing intolerance of the government. “The Left Front government too behaved in this manner by banning a documentary film. This is a fascist tendency,” Mr Suman said.