'Black and White' not anti-communal: Subhash Ghai

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) Bollywood director Subhash Ghai Friday told the Delhi High Court that his recently released film "Black and White" depicted communal harmony and was not against any community.

Ghai was replying to a petition by a Delhi University professor seeking a ban on the film, claiming it was "anti-Muslim" and "communally inflammable".

Ghai, in his petition filed through counsel P.D. Gupta, refuted all the allegations by petitioner Khalid Alvi, Head of Urdu Department at the Zakir Hussain College, Delhi, who contended that the film portrays his community in bad light and its screening should be stayed.

Terming the petition as politically motivated, Ghai said his film depicted communal harmony.

"The producer, director, the actor and the script writer have intentionally produced the film with an anti-Muslim angle. The film is communally inflammable," advocate Asad Alvi, appearing for the professor, said.

The petitioner alleged that the film shows his community as harbouring terrorists, which was wrong and it should not have been allowed by the censor board.

Justice Rekha Sharma, after going through the affidavit, posted the matter for Sep 10 for further hearing.

The film, produced and directed by Ghai, was released all over the country in March.

The petitioner alleged that the protagonist of the film, a professor of Zakir Hussain College, is based on his character, which has been wrongly portrayed.

"The students and staff of the college were stunned and shocked that the college was used with such a mala fide and inimical intention of the filmmaker, hand in glove with the censor board, to malign their community as anti-national and unpatriotic," the petition said.

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Black & White