Why Jagan Banned ‘Chintamani’ In AP?

The 100-year-old play Chintamani, written by Kallakuri Narayana Rao, hogged the limelight with the Andhra Pradesh government banning its staging in the state henceforth.

Though many youngsters might not be aware of the play which had enthralled the audience in yesteryears, the ban orders had raised the interest as to what had triggered the extreme step by the authorities.

It is learnt that last year when the centenary celebrations of Chintamani were held in West Godavari district, the representatives of AP Arya Vysya Sangham in the state had raised objection to staging the play citing that it had hurt their sentiments and submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy following which he had issued orders to the official concerned to do the needful. The Arya Vysya community members also threatened to launch an agitation if the play was staged in the name of centenary celebrations.

One of the popular characters in the play, Subbisetty, also belonging to the Arya Vysya community and hailing from a reputed family, spends all his wealth getting attracted to a woman outside his family and his life gets ruined. The character which holds prominence in the comedy track of the drama was aimed at preaching a moral that men should not get attracted to women outside their families. At the same time, the play also spreads another moral on the necessity to abolish the ‘dasi’ system.

Meanwhile, there is another version that the police have not been according permission for staging the play citing law and order problem. There is talk that some artistes were taking liberty and manipulating the dialogues to add ‘masala’ which was evoking criticism and violence in the rural areas. The misinterpretation of dialogues to incorporate double meanings and obscene songs have landed the play in a controversy, lamented a few drama lovers.

However, the government did not take any action when the representatives of the community submitted a memorandum but a couple of days ago, the cultural department had issued orders banning the play.

On probing the reason behind the sudden move, it was found that Jagan government had issued the ban orders as part of damage control following the protest by the Arya Vysyas after one of their community members, Subba Rao Gupta, was attacked by the YCP leaders in Ongole.