Bollywood controversies: Controversy is the second name of Bollywood in the year 2022, or so it seems. There was a ring of controversy in everything Bollywood did or didn’t do in 2022. Unlike the sound of cash registers ringing at the box office, boycott calls rang louder at multiplexes and single theatres.
As the year draws to a close, here’s looking back at the top stories that dominated the marquee.
The Kashmir Files
Vivek Agnihotri’s film The Kashmir Files was the biggest hit of the year that minted crores of rupees at the box office. Yet it emerged as the most controversial film too. The film got full support from the BJP. Six states — Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Goa, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh —made the film tax free. Assam and Madhya Pradesh granted leave to government employees to watch the movie.
While some praised the movie for showing the real plight of the Kashmiri Pundits, others called The Kashmir Files biased and a threat to communal harmony. Many sought a ban on its screening. The politically-charged movie was banned in the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.
Recently, Nadav Lapid, Israeli jury head at IFFA, called it ‘vulgar and propaganda’.
Ranveer Singh’s nude photoshoot
Ranveer Singh’s nude photoshoot created quite a storm in the country. The Padmaavat actor bared it all for a magazine leading to much brouhaha. An NGO tuned into moral police and filed case against him alleging that the pictures hurt the sentiments of women. He recorded his statement in and said that a few pictures that went viral were morphed.
Brahmastra
Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt’s Brahmastra courted controversy when the film’s trailer showed Kapoor wearing shoes while entering a temple. Director Ayan Mukerji clarified stating that the scene where Ranbir is wearing shoes is from a Durga Puja Pandal and not a temple, did not pacified people. Further, Ranbir’s decade-old comment about consuming beef also resurfaced online. And he and Alia were stopped from entering Mahakal temple in Ujjain where they had gone to pray for the film’s success. However, all this did not stop Brahmastra from doing a decent business at the box office.
Shamshera
Ranbir Kapoor’s film created controversy the moment the makers released its trailer. Though Ranbir and co-star Sanjay Dutt impressed their intense looks, a section of people thought Shamshera was an insult to the Hindu ideology. Why? Because the villain Sanjay Dutt wears a ‘Tripund’ on the forehead. Besides, Ranbir’s character wearing shoes to the temple also angered right wingers.
Kichha Sudeep – Ajay Devgn spat
For a few days it seemed the North and South shall never meet! Bollywood star Ajay Devgn and South actor Kiccha Sudeep got into a spat on Twitter over the status of Hindi as the “rashtriya bhasha”.
Both engaged in war of words when Kichha remarked that Hindi is not the national language. Devgn’s schooling of Kichha did not go down well with some users. However, all is well that ends well. In the end the two ironed out their differences, at least from social media, and made peace.
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Lal Singh Chaddha
Boycott calls hurt Amir Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan’s’s Lal Singh Chaddha the most. Ahead of the film’s release, social media was abuzz with boycott calls. What was the reason? Aamir Khan’s comments on intolerance a few years back! The direct effect of it was seen on the box office numbers of the film.
Liger
South actor Vijay Deverakonda, who made his Bollywood debut with Liger earlier this year, had to pay the price for sharing his opinion about the boycott trend in Bollywood. While Deverakonda’s views on the boycott trend left the audience fuming, the action drama tanked at the box office.
Prithviraj
Akshay Kumar’s historical action drama courted controversy as Rajput and Gurjar communities laid claim to the famed king’s caste. Karni Sena sough a ban on the film. Based on medieval poet Chand Bardai’s epic poem Prithviraj Raso, the Chandraprakash Dwivedi film depicted the life and heroism of Prithviraj Chauhan who valiantly fought against Muhammad Ghori. Akshay Kumar said that they had tried to present Prithviraj’s “life story in the most authentic way possible and the film is a homage to his unmatched bravery and courage”.
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