Overview
- Hema Malini's March 28 letter, reported Thursday, asks Speaker Om Birla to act on what she calls cultural controls that harm artists' work and income.
- She cites a Kolkata Draupadi dance drama set for March 15 that was cancelled at the last minute, with reasons ranging from logistics to an Election Commission press event.
- She says organisers were refused Science City Hall because the Prime Minister was in the city, even though no programme was scheduled at that venue.
- Malini argues these are part of a years-long pattern of last-minute denials and thin security assurances that leave performers anxious and unpaid.
- BJP leaders Ravi Kishan and Mithun Chakraborty echoed her claims, and reports recall last year's 'The Bengal Files' dispute as context, with no new state response noted.