GMOA denies 'Fanaa' director's charge

Ahmedabad, Jun 5 (UNI) The ongoing controversy over the screening of Aamir Khan starrer 'Fanaa' took a new turn in Gujarat with Gujarat Mulitplex Owners' Assocaition (GMOA) denying film director Kunal Kholi's allegation that distributors were not showing the film because of ''political pressure.'' ''I am a Gujarati and the decision not to screen the film was taken after considering various factors including sentiments of the people of Gujarat,'' Manubhai Patel, President of GMOA told UNI.

He admitted that he had a telephonic conversation with Mr Kholi on the issue.

Mr Patel said just ensuring the police protection for the cinegoers would not help in resolving the problem, as the things may go wrong inside the cinema halls during the screening too.

He also suggested that the best way to resolve the controversy was to have an apology from Aamir Khan for hurting the sentiments of people of Gujarat.

Mr Kholi told private news channels that multiplex owners were not showing the film in the state because of pressure from the political leaders, who threatened that they might create problems for them if they went ahead with the screening of the film.

UNI MP SSS MA HT2000