NEW DELHI: Film-makers on Friday postponed the scheduled release of a Bollywood biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after it failed to get a censor’s certificate on time.

India’s main opposition Congress party had petitioned against the film’s release, calling it a propaganda movie that would influence the country’s national election that starts on April 11.

The film’s producer Sandip Singh announced on Twitter that the movie on Modi’s rise from humble origins would not come out Friday, promising an update “soon”.

But the Central Board of Film Certification said that “PM Narendra Modi” had not yet been given release authorisation.

The film “is yet to be certified as the process is not complete at this point,” Prasoon Joshi, the CBFC chairman, told the Press Trust of India news agency.

India’s election commission was expected to announce on Friday whether it would block the film’s release because of the election.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2019