Censure of the upcoming Mandalay's film "Ramayan 3392 A.D." over the signals of its presentation of re-imagined version of sacred Hindu scripture Ramayan is broadening quickly among both Hindu and non-Hindu circles.
Supporting the movement spearheaded by prominent Hindu and Indo-American statesman Rajan Zed, various Hindu and non-Hindu organizations and leaders have been coming out expressing concern about the possibility of the film showing re-imagined or sci-fi version of ancient Sanskrit scripture in the movie, thus hurting the sentiments of Hindus worldwide.
Rajan Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, has been saying that Ramayan was a highly revered scripture of Hinduism. Hollywood was welcome to make a movie about Ramayan but the final product should be the true depiction of it and not a fantasised or a re-imagined version. Changing Ramayan to fit the Hollywood machine was likely to hurt the Hindu sentiments.
Nevada Clergy Association (NCA), formed of various religions and denominations, has come in the support of perturbed Hindus. Right Reverend Gene Savoy Jr., NCA President, in a statement in Nevada (USA), said, "We at the NCA urge the makers of this film to have a feel for the sensitivities of the devotees, depict the scripture in its authentic form without any alterations and consult Hindu leaders like acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed and others before launching this venture."
Even Jews have backed the Hindus on this issue. Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, prominent Jewish leader in Nevada and California, in a statement at South Lake Tahoe (California, USA), said, "I join Rajan Zed in urging the makers of Ramayan 3392 A.D. to use care and respect when depicting a text held sacred by more than a billion Hindus. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus all share a reverence for central texts. We must unite to ask for mutual respect of each others' texts."
Bhavna Shinde, who represents Hindu Janjagruti Samiti in USA, in a communiqué to Peter Guber, Chairman of Mandalay Entertainment Group, said "…We urge you to feel the pain of the Hindu community, and stay faithful to the story and the spirit of the timeless holy epic, presenting the final product with a true depiction of Ramayan…"
Vamsi Krishna, leader of Sanatan Sanstha in Australia, in a separate communiqué to Guber, said, "…We request you sincerely not to tamper with this epic life story of Lord Rama. This holy book of Ramayan is very sacred to the Hindu's, it is a scripture which has inspired humanity century after century…"
Somnath Paramshetti, President of Forum for Hindu Awakening, also in a communiqué to Guber, wrote "…'Ramayana' is a Holy Scripture for Hindus. Over a billion Hindus all over the world hold it in reverence. What you call as the characters in 'Ramayana' are divine Incarnations worshipped by Hindus…"
Nevada clergy asks makers of Hollywood movie on Ramayan to "depict scripture without any alterations"
Jawahar L. Khurana, Chairperson of Hindu Alliance of India, says that Mandalay and its chairman Guber are well respected in Hollywood and we expect them to be responsive to the pain of the one billion strong Hindu community spread worldwide when handling sacred scriptures like Ramayan.
Calling it "disrespectful and sacrilegious", Madhava Smullen says in ISKCON News Weekly of International Society for Krishna Consciousness: "Let's boycott this production in any way we can".
Annabelle Younger, Northern Nevada president of ISKCON, points out "…it is with great sadness that corruption of this great epic's name will be associated with this movie." Shri Ramayan Pracharini Sabha and India Heritage Panel have also expressed serious perturbation over this movie venture.
Nevada clergy asks makers of Hollywood movie on Ramayan to "depict scripture without any alterations"
Motion picture company Mandalay Pictures, producer Mark Canton of "300" fame, and Liquid Comics have teamed up to make this movie "Ramayan 3392 A.D." Ramayan, an ancient Sanskrit scripture that consists of 24,000 stanzas, explores various themes, including human existence, concept of dharma, etc. Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion followers. Moksha (liberation) is the ultimate goal of Hinduism.
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