With inputs by Sujith A
Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra on Wednesday said 'Pathaan' starring Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh Khan was based on 'toxic mentality' and demanded that the clothes they wear in the film's newly released song 'Besharam Rang' be changed.
"The film 'Pathaan' is full of faults and based on toxic mentality. Lyrics of song 'Besharam Rang' and saffron and green clothes worn in the song need to be corrected or else we will take decision on whether to let the film's screening happen in MP or not," ANI quoted Mishra as saying.
A protest was also reportedly held in Madhya Pradesh by an outfit called "Veer Shivaji Group" that set effigies of actors Padukone and Khan on fire, PTI reported. The protesters demanded a ban on the film as the song 'Besharam Rang' offended the Hindu community.
Social media campaigns calling for audiences to boycott Pathan also began on Twitter.
What was the outrage all about?
While the song was released on Monday, several verified accounts tweeted about the song, objecting to Padukone wearing a saffron bikini.
One of them was Sadhvi Prachi, who is the national president of the Bhagwa Kranti Sena and a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. "Ban This Movie in India . Retweet If You . #BoycottPathaan #BesharamRang", she said quote tweeting a BJP worker, who called Khan 'hakla'( someone who stammers) and said he made the "heroin" wear a saffron bikini and called the song "besharam rang".
OpIndia wrote a report and accused Khan of promoting "obscenity". The report said that netizens accused Khan of deliberately using the saffron colour to defame it. "Logo ki narazgi ka ek kaaran Deepika ke kapde bhi hain. (One of the reasons that people are upset with the song is Deepika's costume," the report claimed.
The report cited a tweet by a journalist with Sudharshan TV who said that the was showing saffron colour as "besharam rang' (shameless colour).
What part did Twitter play in it?
Calls to boycott Pathaan had been trending even before the song was released. But the "Boycott Pathaan" hashtag resurfaced on Tuesday. BOOM found over 500 tweets since Tuesday that were associated with the remarks on the saffron colour calling for the boycott of the film.
One of the tweets, which received several retweets, actually dates back to November 3. It used a clip from the movie Don 2 where Khan is seen wearing an orange-coloured prison uniform. The tweet, which is now viral, claims that the clip is from 'Pathaan' and accuses Khan of peddling hate against Hindus.
BOOM did a fact-check on the video clip from the 2011 film and found that the scene was shot in a Malaysian prison to portray a glimpse of a prisoner in the country as per the movie plot. read the complete fact check here.
