REPORT
Controversial films of 2015
T
These Bollywood films rocked the controversy charts this year
he Hindi film industry and controversy go somewhat hand-in-hand. But ever so often the situation
gets serious enough to become a police complaint,
a PIL or an open letter, as is in Bajirao Mastani's case
with the film neck deep in issues. With 2015 coming to
a close, we highlight the films that courted trouble this
year.
Bajirao Mastani
From being accused of not doing enough research
about Mastani's character to portraying Bajirao, Mastani
and Kashibai in an objectionable and somewhat vulgar light with the
dance numbers
and intimate sequences, the descendants of the
Peshwa dynasty
are all up in arms
against
Sanjay
Leela Bhansali,
even holding a
press conference
recently to protest and stay the
film's release.
Baby
For a film that,
at the core of it,
talked about terrorism being delinked from religion and about a fictional covert operation, Baby seemed
to have rubbed many a Pakistani officials the wrong way,
which is why the film was banned from screenings in our
neighbouring country.
Hunterrr
Clearly our sexuality is taboo for discussion in cinema,
no matter how humorous the outcome, since Hunterrr
suffered quite a few cuts before it could be screened for
TV. But the troubles really began when a poster of the
film was considered obscene and banned from exhibition.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan
7 FIRs. That's not a dialogue from a crime film but the
truth when it comes to Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Kabir Khan's
super successful Eid blockbuster. From the title itself to
speculations on the anti national and anti Muslim content of the film,there wasn't an issue that wasn't raised
when the film came to the fore. But in this case, all's well
that ends well, yes?
Phantom
Aside from facing the problem of being Anti-Pakistan
(which it obviously wasn't), Phantom was slapped with
a notice from an international NGO, MSF, for endangering their reputation as a peaceful organisation working
in war torn Syria with the portrayal of Katrina Kaif's character.
Mohalla Assi
Even before it could be released, Mohalla Assi faced a
number of issues on religious grounds when the trailer
and a few scenes of the film were leaked and religious
groups cried hoarse against a scene using expletives
when talking about
gods and goddesses.
So much was the issue that the film has
been banned from
release by a court in
Delhi.
Bombay Velvet
Saved by a hair's
breadth,
Bombay
Velvet just nearly
scraped through after a Censor Board
directive to change
the word Bombay to
Mumbai in all works of
art was issued. Since
the film was set in the
60s, when the city
was indeed Bombay,
the Board made one happy exception. Phew!
MSG: The Messenger of God
Adding insult to injury, MSG: The Messenger of God,
which was already panned by critics nationally, also received flak from the Sikh community for offending their
sentiments with some of the sequences. Too bad they
went ahead and made a sequel, just months later!
Dirty Politics
Controversy's favourite child, Mallika Sherawat's ambitious film Dirty Politics fell into trouble thanks to a relatively objectionable poster of her posing semi nude
wrapped only in the national colours. That didn't fly too
well, by the looks of it.
Dharam Sankat Mein
From being linked to Oh! My God in content to having a
maulvi and a pandit watch the film at the Censor Board's
behest to clear it on religious grounds before it was fit for
public view, Dharam Sankat Mein was stuck in a web of
rat \