Ram Gopal Varma booked in 'Murder' movie row

Bollywood filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has been booked in connection with his upcoming film 'Murder' which is based on Pranay Kumar's murder case. Varma was booked following Nalgonda court's directive on a petition filed by father of a man who was killed in an alleged honour killing incident in Miryalaguda in 2018.

Hyderabad:Telangana police on Saturday booked controversial filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma as per a court directive in connection with his proposed movie 'Murder' based on an alleged incident of honour killing.

A case against Varma and producer Natti Karuna was booked at Miryalaguda Town- I police station in Nalgonda district.

The court issued the direction on a petition filed by P. Balaswamy, whose son Pranay Kumar was murdered in 2018 by his father-in-law Maruthi Rao who had refused to accept his marriage with his daughter.

Varma and the producer were booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and other sections of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act.

Balaswamy, who had approached the court last month, sought a ban on the film. He also said that photos of Pranay and his daughter-in-law Amrutha were being used without their consent.

Pranay, a 24-year-old Dalit, was hacked to death by a hired killer in full public view when he along with his wife and mother were coming out of a private hospital in Miryalaguda on September 14, 2018. The sensational murder was caught on a CCTV camera.

Maruthi Rao, who belonged to an upper caste, and seven others were arrested.

Rao, who had struck the deal to kill Pranay for Rs one crore, allegedly committed suicide in March this year in Hyderabad.

Varma announced last month that he was making a film on the story of Maruthi Rao and his daughter.

"On the occasion of Father's Day I am launching the first look poster of a film based on the tragic story of Amrutha and her over loving father Maruthi Rao," the director had tweeted on June 21.

"This is going to be a heart-wrenching story based on the Amrutha and Maruthi Rao saga of the dangers of a father loving a daughter too much."

Amrutha, who still lives with her in-law, had reacted strongly to Varma's plans and vowed to fight a legal battle to stop the film.

"It's foolish to assume that I am going to show someone involved in a negative light because I strongly believe that nobody is bad and only bad circumstances make people look bad or make them behave badly and that's what I intend to explore in 'Murder'," Varma had said in one of the series of tweets on the issue.

(With inputs from ANI and IANS)