Mumbai, Jan 21: The blanket ban on Bhojpuri superstar Ravi Kishan's films in Bihar has been lifted. The actor is relieved and jubilant and says that people should respect him instead of creating problems for him.

For the last two months, the Bihar and Jharkhand Motion Picture Producers Association had banned the actor for supporting Mithun Chakraborty in his fight with a Bihari distributor-producer.

"Thank god, it's over. I was abused and banned for supporting Mithun-da. I could've retaliated in the same language, but I held my peace," Ravi told IANS.

"The Bhojpuri industry in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh has made me a star. At the same time, I've also given the Bhojpuri industry a new lease of life. Surely, I need to be respected," he added.

He thanks film personalities like Shatrughan Sinha and Prakash Jha, who hail from the state, for bailing him out.

"It was all due to the timely intervention of Shatrubhai, Prakash Jha, Manoj Bajpai and Sanjay Nirupam-ji. They spoke directly to the highest command in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar himself. Being a reasonable and culturally inclined man, he immediately took remedial action. And now after a two-month gap I'm back in the theatres of Bihar."

Ravi's first post-ban release in Bihar is the Bhojpuri remake of "Sholay".

"It's Ekta Kapoor-ji's first Bhojpuri film. And it's our interpretation of 'Sholay'. I play Gabbar Singh. It's very challenging to play a role that Bachchan saab did last year in Ram Gopal Varma's film.

"I've been flattered by being called the Amitabh Bachchan of Bhojpuri cinema. Now's my chance to prove it."

Ravi doesn't approve of politics infiltrating cinema.

"And I don't mean politicians doing cinema. I mean politics being used to resolve cinema-based issues. But in my crisis in Bihar, I realised that when your arm is being unnecessarily twisted, you need to take special action."

(IANS)

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