NEW YORK – The showing of the award winning animated film ‘Sita Sings the Blues’ in Starlight Pavilion in New York which was slated for July 21 was cancelled after growing protests from the Hindu community, spearheaded by Patanjali Rambrich, a Hindu activist in New York.
A spontaneous protest demonstration by temple devotees also had taken place at Durga Temple of Virginia, when a TV interview about the issue was recorded in front of the Rama-Sita shrine. Last week, Forum for Hindu Awakening had received several complaints about this showing to be held along with a panel discussion with the film’s producer Nina Paley. Hindus have found this animation film to be an extremely denigrating twist on their sacred epic ‘Ramayan’.
Given the organizer Rohan Narine’s initial non-response to Hindus’ protests, Forum for Hindu Awakening had to call for staging educative protests outside the venue and boycotting Starlight Pavilion.
The ‘Ramayan’ was composed by Hindus’ revered sage Valmiki. It is a narration of the exemplary life of Rama, who is worshipped by Hindus as the embodiment of perfection, while Rama’s wife Sita is worshipped as the ultimate symbol of chastity.
Paley says the film, which has been well received at international film festivals, is based on the ‘Ramayan’, has drawn irreverent parallels between her own heartbreak and Rama and Sita.
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