VHP activists DISRUPT shooting of film on Osama

The shooting of Kathryn Bigelow's film on Osama bin Laden in Chandigarh -- to depict the killing of the Al Qaeda leader in Abbottabad -- was stalled on Friday by Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists, who objected to the hoisting of Pakistani flags.

The crew was forced to cancel the shoot and move the cameras away after the protests, when a few scenes of the film were being recreated by the Oscar-winning director at Manimajra town on the outskirts of the city.

Activists of VHP, led by Vijay Singh Bhardwaj, forcefully disrupted the shooting and removed the sign boards put up in Urdu on a few shops, a crew member said. He added that a cameramen were also allegedly pushed and abused.

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They raised slogans against Pakistan and removed its flags -- put in place to recreate the actual spot in Abbotabad, where United States commandos killed the dreaded Al Qaeda leader in a helicopter raid on May 2 last year.

"They (the movie crew) are showing Chandigarh as Pakistan, this is not acceptable in any terms. Why should any place in India be converted to look like Pakistan? We will never allow Pakistan's flags flying at places in the city where the shooting is taking place," Bharadwaj said.

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After the melee, the VHP activists went to the police to register a formal complaint against the film's director.

Bigelow later said no Pakistani flag will be put in place at the shooting areas.

Station House Officer Rajesh Shukla assured VHP activists that Pakistani flags will not be permitted at the shooting locales, after which they dispersed. No case has been registered, he said.

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"Our objection is to the hoisting of Pakistani flags," Bhardwaj said.

The film's crew has been shooting in prominent markets at the Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh and at Patiala, with shop boards in Urdu, auto-rickshaws with Lahore number plates, burqa-clad women and men in shalwar-kameez, chappals and skullcaps.

The title of the film is being kept as a closely guarded secret.

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