Mumbai: A day after a planned screening of a 2024 documentary on jailed activist Umar Khalid was cancelled in Versova following alleged intervention by Mumbai Police, the film was screened at a private event in Kurla on Sunday.More than 20 people attended the invite-only screening at a community centre, where the documentary Prisoner No. 626710 is Present, directed by Lalit Vachnani, was followed by a reading of poetry by Gulfisha Fatima, a co-accused with Khalid in the 2020 Delhi riots case.The Versova screening had been organised by Mumbai-based activist-influencers Prashant Purandir and Shrishti Khanna. They alleged that people in civilian clothes claiming to be police first approached the venue manager and pressured him to cancel the event. They said the manager subsequently received a call from the superintendent of police and that a police vehicle later arrived at the venue.“We were not given any reason or told that police permission was required,” Purandir and Khanna said, alleging that the intervention amounted to intimidation. They also claimed that a Bandra venue they had earlier considered was “threatened” and that several other venues declined to host the screening after learning that the film was about Khalid.The documentary has also faced cancellations elsewhere. A planned screening at NLSIU, Bengaluru, on Sept 14 was postponed and later scrapped following objections from ABVP, while a screening at IIIT-Hyderabad scheduled for Sept 18 was cancelled after Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) said on X that the event would be “in violation of the Cinematograph Act”.Bombay HC lawyer Chandni Chawla said CBFC certification requirements apply to public or commercial screenings and that private screenings are not governed by the Cinematograph Act.The Kurla organiser, Abhishek, said he was advised not to publicise the event as a precaution and kept it invite-only and free of charge. “That way no one could argue that the screening was public and so the film requires certification. The film is not banned. It’s ridiculous that we should be made to feel afraid to watch it,” he said.The documentary covers the events preceding Khalid’s arrest and his incarceration. Khalid, who has been in custody since Sept 2020 in the Delhi riots conspiracy case, is facing trial.
