The makers of the film Sita - The Incarnation denied approaching Kareena Kapoor Khan, after reports speculated that the actor demanded a hefty sum for playing the titular role of Sita in the film.
The unverified reports about Kapoor starring in an adaptation of the Hindu mythological epic - Ramayan, further fueled hashtags 'Boycott Kareena Kapoor Khan' and 'Taimur ki ammi' that were revived last week on Twitter and Facebook to make communal remarks against the actor and her family and accused her of hurting religious sentiments.
BOOM reached out to Alaukik Desai, the director, who said, that the film is still in the pre-production stage.
The hashtags started trending after rumours started swirling that Kapoor increased her fee and charged a hefty sum of Rs 12 crore for the role. In a news report dated June 8, Zee News quoted an article by Bollywood Hungama as saying, "Alaukik Desai's film is about re-telling epic Ramayan from Sita's point of view and Kareena Kapoor is the first choice of the filmmaker. Quoting a source, the report mentions that although Bebo charges somewhere around Rs 6 to 8 crore, for this period drama, she charged a whopping 12 crore. However, this is because the movie demands at least 8 to 10 months of prep work and shooting."
According to reports, the film is being written by K Vijayendra Prasad, who has earlier written the screenplay of the Baahubali franchise and Bajrangi Bhaijaan. BOOM reached out to Vijayendra Prasad, who said, "To the best of my knowledge Alaukik Desai, the director of the film, has not asked Kareena Kapoor Khan to play Sita."
Further we reached out to Desai who directed us to a clarification posted by his team on social media. An excerpt from the statement reads, "We are still in our pre-production stage and the rumour of us approaching Kareena Kapoor as Sita is nothing but a whiff of thin air and we would heartily request you to not get blown away with the wind.... throwing their names randomly in the media shows disrespect."
Hashtag Used To Attack Kareena And Her Family
Several right wing social media users attacked the actor and said she was a bad choice to essay Sita's role as she had married a Muslim (Saif Ali Khan) and had a son named after the Muslim ruler Taimur.
A thumbnail image of a YouTube video which strongly opposes the actor playing the role of Sita is also viral on Facebook. In the image, Khan can be seen with what appears to be a bloodied nose - representing the mythological character Surpanakha; the maker of the YouTube video refers to Khan as "Taimur Ki Ammi" and makes scathing comments against the actor.