"Homophobic call: You can’t see ‘Aligarh’ in Aligarh"

"ALIGARH: The only place 'Aligarh', the film on the tragic life of gay AMU professor Srinivas Ramchandra Siras, will not open in is Aligarh.
Movie-goers in Aligarh, who had been waiting excitedly to see the Manoj Bajpaistarrer that has received heady acclaim in India and abroad, were a bit surprised when they realised on Friday that no theater was playing it though the film had hit screens across the country that very day. They, however, didn't read much into it, thinking their "tier-2 city" would get the biopic on Saturday instead.
That didn't happen either. Curious and frustrated, some of them started making queries.....
TOI on Saturday then got to know that the film had quietly been "banned" in the city after Shakuntala Bharti, the BJP mayor, mounted a protest against its screening. She felt the film would "link the city with homosexuality", which would be nothing short of a "defamation" of sorts. Bharti was unapologetic about her objection to the movie. "The film is based on same-sex love and that is not Aligarh," she told TOI. "We can't encourage defamation of a city."
Theater owners, however, said it was not just Bharti who had problems with the film. A local group, Millat Bedari Muhim Committee, had also written to Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad, and to Central Board of Film Certification head Pahlaj Nihalani, demanding that the name of the film be changed as it "besmirches our city".
There had been apprehension from several quarters about the film ever since its shooting was announced. These included questions over how AMU would be represented, since the story is based on Siras' life.
University PRO Rahat Abrar had earlier said he would take legal action against the filmmakers if required and that the varsity was concerned about "misrepresentation of the city or university". He had also said that the university had not given the director permission to shoot the film"

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/bollywood/Homophobic-call-You-cant-see-Aligarh-in-Aligarh/articleshow/51173313.cms

I can't say I'm surprised.

But I do wonder whether he's seen the film Philadelphia, and whether he thinks it besmirches that city?

Aidan,

Aligarh is 40% Muslim, that makes a difference

Is Mise: "Aligarh is 40% Muslim, that makes a difference "
Exactly, and is perhaps one reason our Christian die-hards in government and elsewhere are welcoming them with open arms.

Is Mise, the mayor's BJP so you can't credibly blame the Muslims for this one!

Aidan,

Who is blaming Muslims?
Even a BJP mayor may not wish to run a risk of riot, films in India have caused riots in the past.
That's why Attenborough"s famous film "Gandhi" was banned there.