Goa Assembly to discuss 'Dum Maro Dum'

Panaji, Mar 29: Former Goa Tourism Minister Fransisco Pacheco today moved a notice for ''calling attention motion'' on Rohan Sippy's forthcoming movie ''Dum Maro Dum'' claiming that it will further spoil the image of the state and affect the tourism industry here.

The NCP legislator said the already dented image of Goan tourism industry would be further damaged due to the movie.

The calling attention motion will be taken up by Goa Legislative Assembly Speaker Pratapsingh Rane during the ongoing session. Pacheco told PTI that the release of the movie will seriously impact the tourism here.

"We are looking at family tourism in the state. We don't want the sex and drug tourism spot tag (for Goa), which will kill the industry here," he said.

The leader, who was the brain behind famous ''Go Goa 365 Days Holiday Destination'' campaign, said that people believe whatever is shown in movies.

"I was instrumental in getting off bikini clad women from the government advertisements promoting tourism. Looking at the promos of the movie, it is clear that it portrays a bad image about the state," he said. Pacheco said he will also move the High court seeking ban on the release of the movie.

"If the movie is a fiction, they should have avoided naming Goa in it. An entire state cannot be defamed by a filmmaker's imagination," he said. Efforts to contact Sippy's publicist fetched no response.

The state police earlier had asked the producer to screen the movie for them before releasing it in theatres. Chief Minister Digambar Kamat had also said that he will ask the police to look into the matter.

The flick stars Abhishekh Bachchan, Bipasha Basu and Deepika Padukone in lead roles and will release in mid-April.

PTI