Pathaan: Is the outrage just over Deepika Padukone’s tangerine beachwear?

When saffron-sensitive right-wingers unite, how can Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri be far behind? The director of this year’s controversial megahit The Kashmir Files took to Twitter on Wednesday to hog his share of the limelight. He tweeted a deeply problematic video of a preteen girl juxtaposed against Besharam Rang’s video. The young girl is blaming content like that of Besharam Rang for the growing violence against women in the country. About two minutes long, it ends with a declaration for a boycott: “Until they respect our culture, we will not watch their films. Save the culture, save the nation. A call to retrieve the nation from the menace of rapes and cultural attacks on our civilization by misuse of OTT, social media platforms, films, and pornography promotion. Let us wage this battle together. Our culture, our responsibility.”

Along with the clip, Agnihotri wrote, “WARNING: #PnV video against Bollywood. Don’t watch it if you are a Secular.” Interestingly, not too long ago, Agnihotri was known for directing erotic thrillers such as Hate Story (2012) and Zid (2014). Since the internet never forgets, netizens were quick to call him out on his convenient and hypocritical opportunism.

Meanwhile, talking about the suggested alterations, CBFC chairperson Prasoon Joshi said, “Pathaan went through the due and thorough examining process as per the CBFC guidelines. The committee has guided the makers to implement the advised changes in the film including the songs and submit the revised version prior to theatrical release.”

“CBFC is always committed to finding the right balance between creative expression and sensibility of the audience and we believe that we can always find solutions through meaningful dialogue between all stakeholders,” Joshi added.

Former CBFC chairman Pahlaj Nihalani has also spoken on the matter but has a different story to tell. In an interview with ETimes, he said, “There’s no guideline that states that a colour can be cut. You can suggest changes if there’s vulgarity or obscenity. But if they ask for cuts because of colour, it would be a wrong proceeding. There could be pressure from the ministry. Pathaan is a victim of controversy. The CBFC must have got pressurised by the ministry to delete this portion of saffron colour. Otherwise, they had cleared the costume and the shot in the trailer.”

Notably, this is not the first high-profile Deepika Padukone film to have caused an uproar. Ahead of its release, CBFC had suggested five changes to her last Bhansali period drama too, including changing its name from Padmavati to Padmaavat. The actors couldn’t promote the film at all, courtesy massive protests, burning of effigies, and death threats. The film, which also stars Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, nevertheless became the second-highest grosser of 2018, raking in a reported Rs. 572 crores.

The board had also got the title of Padukone’s first film with Bhansali changed from Ram-Leela to Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela. Other recent films that were altered or had to battle it out with the CBFC include Emraan Hashmi’s Why Cheat India (2019), Kangana Ranaut’s Judgementall Hai Kya (2019), Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam 2 (2018), and Abhishek Chaubey’s Udta Punjab (2016).

But is the outrage at Pathaan just over Padukone’s tangerine beachwear? Or is it because it is her first major theatrical release since she attended the anti-CAA and NRC protests at JNU in January 2020?

For now, it looks like all this hullabaloo is doing the film a whole lot of good. Within two weeks, Besharam Rang has got 145 million views on YouTube and is still trending at the sweet second spot. Meanwhile, Jhoome Jo Pathaan, the second song that released a week ago, has already crossed 61 million views. Is it just me or can the haters see it too? That by going overboard, they have become cheerleaders instead.