SHILLONG: Aneesh Daniel, the director of The Least of these: The Graham Staines Story, has said there is no political agenda behind releasing the movie during elections.
Talking to The Shillong Times on phone, Daniel said he wanted the film to release at the time of Easter but “we did not get a theatre since a blockbuster movie was supposed to release at that time”.
He said in the movie there is no reference to or agenda against any political party. “Why not release it during election time? The film is about forgiveness and this is the best time to talk about it because we are throwing mud at each other. Forgiveness is a special element in this movie. It does not raise a finger at any political party or any individual,” he added.
The film was released all over India on March 29. After a great stint in the metropolitan cities it was released to other states as well. This movie was released in Shillong on April 5 at Anjalee Galleria Cinema Hall.
The film is based on the true story of Graham Staines, an Australian missionary working in India to help lepers. He was burnt to death along with his two sons by a gang of Hindu fundamentalists in Odisha on January 23, 1999.
In 2003, a Bajrang Dal activist, Dara Singh, was convicted of leading the gang that murdered the Staines family and was sentenced to life in prison. Some Hindu groups alleged that Staines had forcibly converted or lured many Hindus into Christianity.