The Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TSNAB) has issued a notice to actor Sai Dharam Tej, and the director and producer of the upcoming Telugu movie, Gaanja Shankar.
TSNAB Director Sandeep Shandilya instructed the filmmakers to drop Gaanja from the title and delete any scene that depicts the sale or use of cannabis.
The notice said the TSNAB believed that the movie “potentially inciting or abetting the crime of narcotics consumption inviting penal consequences to the movie makers”.
Shandilya said the trailer revealed Dharam Tej, “as a vagabond who does leafy vegetable business with pictorials of ganja plant indicating nefarious nature of the films message.”
It further said that depicting the protagonist as involved in the ganja business and glorifying his acts, would create a negative impact on the viewers, especially students and youth.
TSNAB expected the makers to refrain from depicting scenes “where the consumption, sale, peddling, and supply of narcotic ganja is glorified and shown as heroic acts”.