The new Bollywood blockbuster PK is brewing some serious controversy after Hindu groups have come out saying the movie insults their religious sentiments.
The film has earned more than $33 million in the 10 days since it opened and shows a funny and lovable alien who lands in India and loses contact with his spaceship, but discovers that Indians are superstitious about their gods and surround themselves with all kinds of swindling Hindu religious gurus.
But on Monday, Dec. 29, angry groups burnt effigies of the film’s director and actor, tore and blackened movie posters and shattered the glass walls at the movie ticket counters. Calls to boycott the movie dominated social media groups this weekend.
Popular yoga guru Baba Ramdev urged Hindus to boycott the movie and “organize themselves to protect their religion and culture just like Muslim and Christian groups do.”
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad — or World Hindu Council — a Hindu nationalist group and an affiliate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political party, wrote to the country’s information and broadcasting ministry demanding that such movies be stopped and called for an overhaul of the censor board that cleared PK.
But the Censor Board is not backing down. Leela Samson, chairwoman of the Censor Board of Film Certification, told the Press Trust of India that “every film may hurt religious sentiments of somebody or the other. We can't remove scenes unnecessarily because there is something called creative endeavour where people present things in their own way. We have already given certificate to PK and we can't remove anything now because it's already out for public viewing.”
Popular star Aamir Khan, a Muslim, who plays the alien in PK, is the recipient of most of the criticism. In the film, Khan exposes a guru’s fraud as well as questions the fear psyche that drives Hindus to flock to temples and ashrams and donate money. Khan recently told news sources that he hopes for a sequel to the popular film, but it seems his dreams may need to be put on hold until tensions die down.
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