A youth set himself ablaze inside the only cinema showing Fanaa in Gujarat, where cinema and multiplex owners have decided against screening the film. The cinema was showing the film under police protection.

Police said Pravin Joshi, 20, sustained more than 50 per cent burns. He had entered the Ambar cinema during the interval, got into a bathroom, poured kerosene on himself and set himself ablaze.

“He clearly said the motive behind the immolation bid was to register protest against the screening of Fanaa,” said Inspector B B Bhedi of the C-Division Police Station.

Aamir Khan’s remarks on the Sardar Sarovar Dam project had invited opposition in Gujarat, one of the main beneficiaries. The youth wing of the ruling BJP had called for a boycott of the film, and the multiplex and cinema hall owners association had decided against screening it.