A complaint has been lodged by the Sikh community against Aanand L Raai and Shah Rukh Khan on Monday for hurting their religious sentiments. The complaint was lodged by Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) general secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa with the SHO, North Avenue in New Delhi for portraying the Gatra Kirpan as an ordinary dagger, in the trailer of the film Zero.
“It is submitted, that I being the General Secretary of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee, have received a number of complaints from the Sikh Sangat for hurting the sentiments of Sikhs by movie Zero directed by Mr Aanand L Raai. In the movie, film actor Shahrukh Khan has been shown wearing “Gatra Kirpan” (Article of Sikh Faith) and in their movie promo which has created an outrage among Sikh community worldwide. As per the Sikh rehat maryada only Amritdhari Sikh person can wear Gatra Kirpan,” read the complaint.
Sirsa, an Akali Dal MLA, while requesting the police to register an FIR against the actor and director also requested them to pull down all promos of the movie, currently on TV. He also requested the director to remove the objectionable scenes from the movie failing which the community would take to the theatres exhibiting the movie.
I have written a letter to actor of @Zero21Dec @iamsrk & director @aanandlrai to withdraw the objectionable scene and poster showing Kirpaan as ordinary dagger
Filed a complaint as well as this promotion hurts Sikh sentiments pic.twitter.com/yuTpVPLfij
— Manjinder S Sirsa (@mssirsa) November 5, 2018
Earlier the community had also objected to certain scenes from Anurag Kashyap’s Manmarziyaan that they claimed hurt their sentiments. One of the scenes showed both Abhishek Bachchan and Tapsee Pannu, playing Sikh characters, smoking in the movie. Following the controversy, the director issued a statement and tendered an apology.
Apart from Shah Rukh Khan, Zero also stars Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma. Khan plays a dwarf in the movie while Anushka Sharma plays a character with cerebral palsy. Katrina Kaif playing a celebrity completes the love triangle that is at the core of the movie. The trailer of the movie was unveiled on Khan’s birthday on November 3.
