A Chandigarh-based right-wing organization has urged the local administration to ban the screening of upcoming Bollywood film Pathaan and demanded criminal prosecution against its makers for the song Besharam Rang.
Pathaan, starring Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh Khan, is scheduled to release on December 25. The movie has controversy since her first song, Besharam Rang, released earlier this week. The song, which features the two leads, was criticized by a certain section as ‘provocative’.
“We have lodged a complaint with the deputy commissioner (DC), Chandigarh, seeking a complete ban on the upcoming film Pathaan in Chandigarh. The release of this film will hurt religious sentiments, sentiments of a particular community,” said Vijay Singh Bhardwaj, president of Anterrashtriya Hindu Parishad.
“In the released song of this film, the makers of this film insulted the color saffron, which is sacred to the Hindu community. We chose to file our complaint with DC as maintaining law and order falls under it. We have planned to hold protests against the film and the song,” Bhardwaj said. He claimed that similar complaints are being lodged in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
The organization submitted the complaint to DC via email and will soon file a criminal complaint, alleging hurt religious sentiments, they said.
After Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said the song was shot with a “dirty mindset”, BJP MLA Ram Kadam also criticized it. Later, Bengali actor and Trinamool Congress leader Nussrat Jahan supported the song and said that some people have problems if women wear hijab or bikini. Soon after, actor Mukesh Khanna also objected to the song and called it an “attack on the Hindu religion”.
Sources said that sleuths from the local CID wing are closely monitoring the activities of right-wing organizations ahead of the film’s release.
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