Assault case against Jani Master: Choreographer’s National Award revoked

The National Film Awards Cell of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has revoked the National Film Award for Best Choreography for Shaik Jani Basha, popularly known as Jani Master. The decision comes after the choreographer of ‘Aayi Nahi’ from ‘Stree 2’ was convicted of raping a minor. The cell made the announcement a day after Jani was granted four-day interim bail for the National Awards ceremony.

Jani Master bagged the National Award for Best Choreography for the track ‘Megham Karukkatha’ from ‘Thiruchitrambalam’. The award was shared with the track’s other choreographer Sathish Krishnan. However, on Friday, the National Film Awards Department of the I&B Ministry released a statement saying that the ceremony has been suspended.

The statement said, “In view of the seriousness of the allegation and the fact that the matter is sub-judice, the competent authority has decided to postpone the award of the National Film Award for the Best Choreography of 2022 to Shri Shaik Jani Basha for the film Thiruchitrambalam will be suspended until further notice.” Additionally, the choreographer’s invitation to participate in the prestigious National Film Awards has also been revoked. The event will be held on October 8 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

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For those who don’t know, on September 19th the choreographer was arrested. The arrest was made by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Cyberabad Police in Goa. Shaik Jani Basha (Jani Master) was then presented to the court. He was subsequently sent on 14-day judicial remand by the Upparpally Court in Hyderabad on Friday, September 20. Jani was sent to Chanchalguda Central Jail in Hyderabad.

Earlier, on September 18, Cyberabad’s Narsingi Police had booked Jani Master on charges under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act. The move came after a 21-year-old woman filed a complaint accusing the choreographer of assaulting her on multiple occasions. In the complaint, the woman, who worked as Jani’s junior choreographer, alleged that he abused her for six years.

After the complaint, Jani Master was booked in several departments. These include sections 376(2) (punishment for sexual assault) and 506 (criminal intimidation). Additionally, Jani faces charges under Section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Police also took up the POCSO clause after finding out that Jani had allegedly started abusing the victim when she was just 16 years old and a minor.

The Telugu choreographer has notably worked with several stars of Southern cinema including Ram Charan and Allu Arjun among others. Following the case, Jani was asked to resign from his duties as a member of the Jana Sena Party. The party is led by Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and actor Pawan Kalyan.