Recently, Deepika has been dominating the news for her attire in the song ‘Besharam Rang’ from the upcoming film ‘Pathaan’. This is Deepika's third consecutive January release that has made national news
Deepika Padukone. Pic/Instagram
Deepika Padukone is undoubtedly one of the most successful and popular actors in India. The actress completed 15 years in the Hindi film industry a couple of months back. She had a dreamy film debut with ‘Om Shaanti Om’ in 2007 opposite Shah Rukh Khan. Over the years, the actress has delivered memorable performances- from Shantipriya in ‘Om Shanti Om’, Naina in ‘Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani’, Veronica in ‘Cocktail’, Mastani in ‘Bajirao Mastani’, to Alisha in ‘Gehraiyaan’. The actress has also represented and made the country proud on several international platforms.
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Recently, Deepika has been dominating the news for her attire in the song ‘Besharam Rang’ from the upcoming film ‘Pathaan’. This is not the first time that a film featuring Deepika has landed in trouble and has managed to make national headlines. However, what has been common among the films of the actress that made national news is that so far all three have been January releases. ‘Pathaan’ is the third consecutive theatrical release of Deepika that has made national headlines.
PADMAAVAT (January 25, 2018)
The film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali starring Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, and Shahid Kapoor tells the story of the 14th century Muslim emperor Alauddin Khilji's attack on a kingdom after he was smitten by the beauty of its queen, Padmavati, who belonged to the Hindu Rajput caste.
THE CONTROVERSY:
Before the release of the film, some Hindu groups raised objections to the portrayal of Rani Padmavati in the film. The groups claimed that the film has an intimate scene in which the Muslim king dreams of becoming intimate with the Hindu queen. There were protests against the film across the country since January 2017. The protest intensified in November with the film originally scheduled to release in December. The Karni Sena vandalised cinemas and even threatened to chop off Deepika Padukone's nose. “Rajputs never raise a hand on women but if need be, we will do to Deepika what Lakshman did to Shurpanakha," said a leader of the group.
There were also objections raised to the ‘Ghoomar’ song picturised in the film. Heena Singh Judeo, daughter-in-law of Dilip Singh Judeo of Chhattisgarh's former royal family, said, “History has witnessed that none of the Rajput maharanis has ever danced in front of anyone, and they cannot play with history.”
Meanwhile, Bhansali repeatedly denied all allegations and also released a video clarifying that the film does not distort history. The film ran into trouble soon after it went on the floors. The sets of the films were vandalised twice. The director was also attacked once while shooting in Jaipur.
THE VERDICT
In December 2018, at the peak of protests, the film was cleared by the Indian censor board. However, they suggested that the film’s title be changed to ‘Padmaavat’ from ‘Padmaavati’. The makers also held a special screening for the Karni Sena ahead of release to convince them that there was nothing objectionable in the film.
Meanwhile, in January 2018, the court cleared the film's release and overturned the decision by four states to ban it, citing fear of violence. The film's producers had approached the Supreme Court to challenge the ban called by few states. “Cinemas are an inseparable part of right to free speech and expression,” said Chief Justice Dipak Misra. “States... cannot issue notifications prohibiting the screening of a film.”
‘Padmaavat’ was finally released in theatres on January 25, 2018. The film had an opening of Rs. 24 crore on day 1 and crossed Rs. 100 crore on the opening weekend itself. The lifetime collection of the film in India is Rs. 302.15 crore. The worldwide gross collections stand at Rs. 571.98 crore.
Also Read: Happy Birthday Deepika Padukone: Here's what you can expect in 2023
CHHAPAAK (January 10, 2020)
Two years after the release of ‘Padmaavat’, Deepika Padukone had her next theatrical release in January 2020 with ‘Chhapaak’. The film is a biographical drama based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal. The film directed by Meghna Gulzar marked Deepika's production debut.
THE CONTROVERSY:
Unlike ‘Padmaavat’, the film did not land in trouble for its content. On January 7, 2022, three days ahead of the release of the film in theatres, Deepika Padukone joined a protest gathering at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) against the 2020 JNU Attacks against the left-wing students and passage of CAA 2019. Deepika did not utter a word and silently stood by the students. However, her mere presence rattled several right-wing leaders across the nation. It resulted in hashtags like #BoycottChhapaak and #BlockDeepika trending on Twitter. Deepika's fans stood in her support and started trending #ISupportDeepika hashtags in response. Several also claimed that it was a promotional strategy for the film.
A day after Deepika's attendance at the protest, social media users pointed out that filmmaker Meghna Gulzar had changed the name and religion of the attackers and their family members in the film. Some right-wing news portals also reported that the name of the attacker who was a Muslim in real life was changed to the Hindu name 'Rajesh'. However, it was debunked that Rajesh was the name of the character essayed by Vikrant Massey who played Deepika's boyfriend in the film. The attacker was named as Bashir 'Babboo' Khan in the film.
THE BOX OFFICE VERDICT:
While the film was not a commercial success, Deepika was appreciated for her performance as the acid attack survivor and for backing a film on a sensitive topic. The film was released worldwide on 10 January 2020. On its opening day, the film collected Rs. 4.77 crore. The first opening weekend saw a collection of Rs. 19.02 crore. The film’s lifetime collection stands at Rs. 34.08 crore. The worldwide gross collection of the film stands at Rs. 55.44 crore. Followіng the fіlm's release, the state of Uttarakhand announced a new pensіon scheme for acіd attack survіvors. The government of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan made the film tax free in their respective states.
PATHAAN (January 25, 2022)
Now, Deepika Padukone is gearing up for the release of the film ‘Pathaan’, which is yet again a January release, and the actress' third consecutive theatrical release in January. The film which also marks the return of Shah Rukh Khan to the big screen after 4 years is directed by Siddharth Anand and also stars John Abraham. The film landed in a controversy when the first song titled ‘Besharam Rang' was released. The glamorous song picturised on Khan and Padukone ran into trouble after Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra and a few right-wing outfits objected to the lead actress wearing saffron coloured clothes in the music video and referring to the colour as 'Besharam' as advertised by the song title. They had also expressed their displeasure regarding the choreography and the actors' attires in general. The right-wing outfits demanded the removal of the song and an advocate also filed a written complaint with the Information & Broadcasting Ministry for the same. Some have also threatened to vandalise theatres screening the movie.
A Muslim board in Madhya Pradesh has also demanded that the movie should not be released and the reason is “obscenity”. Syed Anas Ali, the Muslim board’s president, called for a boycott of the film and said, “Islam has been propagated wrongly”.
“A film named Pathaan has been made in which Shah Rukh Khan is the hero, people see him and like him. But we have received calls and complaints and they have expressed anger over the obscenity that has been spread inside this film and Islam has been propagated wrongly,” he said.
THE OUTCOME:
While the cast and the team have not reacted to the controversy, the Censor board has asked the team to implement some changes. CBFC chairperson Prasoon Joshi said, "Pathaan went through the due and through examining process as per the CBFC guidelines. The committee has guided the makers to implement the advised changes in the film including the songs and submit the revised version prior to theatrical release.”
Mr Joshi said that, "CBFC is always committed to find the right balance between creative expression and sensibility of the audience and believe that we can always find solution through meaningful dialogue between all stakeholders."
However, it is not clear what changes have been demanded by the censor board. The trailer of the film will be released on January 10 and the film is expected to break multiple box office records. The film also has a cameo by Salman Khan who will reprise the role of his popular character of Tiger from ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ and ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’.
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