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needed attention than the colour of a costume in a fiction film. BJP MLA Ram Kadam in a tweet in Hindi said that the makers of SRK-starrer ‘Pathaan’ should clarify their stand over the choice of costumes and added that any film that insults ‘Hindutva’ will not run in Maharashtra. The much-awaited Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone-starrer, “Pathaan”, has courted controversy over its song ‘Besharam Rang’ and the costumes used in it.
Several Hindu outfits and leaders have taken offense at a saffron outfit donned by Padukone in parts of the song. As the row escalated on Thursday, Actor Prakash Raj came out in support of the actors and the song, slamming protestors as ‘bigots’. Taking to Twitter, the actor said, “#Besharam BIGOTS.. So it’s okay when Saffron clad men garland rapists..give hate speech, broker MLAs, a Saffron clad swamiji rapes Minors, But not a DRESS in a film ?? #justasking”.
CPM leader Chigurupati Babu Rao took a dig at the film and said that watching the film is no use. “It is better to feed a hungry person than paying to watch Pathaan,” Babu Rao said as quoted by news agency ANI.
Meanwhile the song received heavy criticism from Hindu outfits including MP Home Minister Narottam Mishra. He demanded the changes are made and added that if the costumes are not changed, Pathaan will be banned in Madhya Pradesh. He tweeted in Hindi, “The costumes are highly objectionable and the song has been shot with a dirty mindset. The scenes and costumes of the songs should be corrected, otherwise whether the film should be allowed in Madhya Pradesh or not, it would be a matter of consideration.”
After Mishra, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) national spokesperson Vinod Bansal also demanded that the movie be banned and boycotted. Bansal shared a video, slamming Deepika’s dress in the lyrics ‘Besharam Rang’. Bansal took to Twitter and wrote: “Can a Pathan who believes in Islam film such scenes with a woman with Muslim symbols!! There is a limit to the absurdity of love jihadis..!!”
Vineet Jindal, an advocate at Supreme Court, on Thursday also filed a complaint with Information and Broadcasting Ministry against Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone for “objectional video” and sought to ban the release of the movie till “correctness of objectionable song” and requested for an action under relevant section of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and IT Act.
Activists of a Hindu outfit, “Veer Shivaji Group” on Wednesday staged a protest against the song in Indore city of Madhya Pradesh by burning effigies of Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone. They demanded to ban the film, set to hit the screens in January next year, alleging the Hindu community is feeling offended by the contents of the song.
SRK Reacts to Row
Speaking at the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), Khan addressed the ongoing negativity on social media amid protests against his upcoming film. Talking about the importance of cinema, he said it is the most important medium of modern times.
“Cinema and the advent of articulation through social media platforms have now become the foremost expression of human experience and emotion. The collective narrative of time is shaped by social media and contrary to the belief that the spread of social media will affect cinema negatively, I believe cinema has an even more important role to play now. Social media is often driven by a certain narrowness of view that limits human nature.”
SRK continued, “Cinema exposes the vulnerability of human nature by telling the stories in the simplest form as they are lived. It allows us to know each other better in a way it is best placed to sustain a collective counter-narrative that speaks to the larger nature of humankind. A narrative that brings to forth humanity’s immense capacity for compassion, unity and brotherhood.”
Besharam Rang has been composed by Vishal-Sheykhar with lyrics by Kumaar and stars Padukone and Khan. Helmed by Siddharth Anand, Pathaan is scheduled to hit theatres on January 25, 2023.
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