World Scene: India

Chaplain doesn't amuse

Hindu activists have stymied an effort to put up a statue of Charlie Chaplin for use in a movie, claiming a monument to a non-Hindu close to their temple was offensive, the filmmaker said yesterday.

Hemant Hegde, a filmmaker who was building the 20-meter statue of the legendary comic to use as a backdrop to a dance routine in his new film, told a news channel he was forced to halt work by a band of Hindu activists. "I'm really surprised that people would associate Charlie Chaplain with being a Christian and not allowing the statue," he said.