87 days after MSG release, Dera followers still flock to theatres

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Released on February 13, the movie was banned in Punjab. It is now running at three places in Haryana — one each in only Panchkula, Faridabad and Sirsa.

At the multiplex here, a team of 10 volunteers from the Dera’s ‘Green ‘S’ Welfare Force’ manages the two shows.

“Every person who watches the movie goes back and motivates others to watch it. Sabka bhala karna chahiye. Our guru had asked us that we must bring more and more people to watch the movie. There are some people who have watched the movie over ten times,” said Bhupinder Insaan, one of the volunteers.

On Monday, among those who had come to the multiplex were around 40 jhuggi-dewellers from Fatehpur village in Sector 21. They included women carrying babies, elderly men, school-going children. Most of them were visiting a multiplex for the first time. Asked why they had come, one of them said, “Ab free mein dikha rahe hain to koi bhi dekhega na.”

The jhuggi dwellers have been coming to watch the movie in groups over the last few days. When a fire broke out in Fatehpur some time ago, 12 jhuggies were burnt, and Dera voluteers helped them with clothes and rations. “We also them about the movie. One of the jhuggi-dwellers told me that her son had quit drinking after watching the movie,” said a female volunteer .

Another volunteer said the movie shows were being booked on a daily basis, with money donated by Dera followers.

Official of the multiplex said, “We will run the shows until people keep coming. On an average, 70 to 80 per cent seats get filled in both shows. Some days, we had to organise a special show. They buy tickers in bulk.”

The volunteers are planning a big event to mark the 100 days of the film. “We will hold a big function and celebrate it with a full house,” said Deepak Insaan, adding that the film will run until the second part of the movie, titled MSG-2, is released in June.