After a member of the Sikh community filed a complaint against the actors of Manmarziyaan, who are shown smoking in the movie, director Anurag Kashyap has come out with a statement addressing the issue. He said that the film was about individuals and their choices and was not a commentary on any religion or community.
My statement on the brewing controversy.
Read: https://t.co/VkB0eTyNrx
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) September 19, 2018
Objections have been raised over two scenes – one in which Abhishek Bachchan and Tapsee Pannu, who play Sikh characters in the movie, are shown smoking and another one where Bachchan is shown taking off his turban.
The director who is currently not in India said that the city of Amritsar, during the shoot, had opened their hearts and doors to him and his crew. He had ensured that things were done with utmost care while shooting and had sought the guidance of Sikh people.
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The smoking scene which was shot on the streets was witnessed by close to 150 people, mostly Sikhs, who instructed him on how Bachchan should take off his turban. Reiterating that nothing was shot without guidance, he said he had modified a marriage scene set in Gurudwara when he was told that a fake marriage could not be performed at the holy site.
He said that he did things without an agenda and asked people to not make things unnecessarily political. As the film is currently running in theatres, he said he couldn’t make changes to it. He concluded by tendering an apology to people who were ‘genuinely’ hurt.
Starring Vicky Kaushal alongside Pannu and Bachchan, Manmarziyaan released on September 14. The movie which marks Bachchan’s return to acting after a gap of two years has been garnering positive reviews. Alongside the film, the soundtrack too, composed by Kashyap’s usual collaborator Amit Trivedi has been garnering praise. Written by Kanika Dhillon, the film is jointly produced by Kashyap and director Aanand L Rai.