New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra on Wednesday, December 14, said that the costume worn by Deepika Padukone in a song released recently was “highly objectionable” and that if the scenes are not “corrected” then the film may not be allowed to be released in the state.
Mishra’s statement came after a song titled ‘Beshram Rang’ featuring actors Padukone and Shah Rukh Khan was released from the film Pathan. The film will be released on January 25, 2023.
He said it was clearly visible that this song was filmed out of a “contaminated mentality”.
“I would request to correct the scenes and her costumes, otherwise whether this film should be allowed in Madhya Pradesh or not will be a question to be considered,” Mishra told reporters in Mhow in Indore district.
In the same breath, he alleged “Padukone has been a supporter of the tukde tukde gang as seen in the JNU case”.
In January 2020, had visited Jawaharlal Nehru University to express solidarity with students who were attacked by masked mobs a day ago.
Deepika padukone in solidarity with jnu violence. She is not supporting any gang … she is just supporting the humanity.
A huge respect for u and love from jnu❣#DeepikaPadukone pic.twitter.com/GwOqgs5GjW— Nishant Sharma (@sudoaccessdeny) January 7, 2020
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its supporters often use the “tukde tukde gang” as to target non-rightwing thinkers in the aftermath of the JNU protests of 2016.
Mishra in known for objecting to entertainment.
In October, he warned the makers of the Bollywood film Adipurush, based on the epic Ramayan, of legal action if scenes showing Hindu religious figures in the “wrong” way are not removed.
In the same month, Mishra said that an FIR will be registered against a woman for shooting a dance performance at a temple in Chhatarpur district and posting it on social media.
In July this year, he asked for an FIR to be filed over a poster of filmmaker Leena Manimekalai’s documentary Kaali after an outrage.
Last year, Mishra said that state government will “take action” against actor Sunny Leone and composer Saqib Toshi if they do not remove the video performance of a song, ‘Madhuban Mein Radhika Naache,’ from social media within three days.
In November last year, he had said comedian Vir Das, who was facing police complaints over his monologue ‘I come from two Indias’, would not be allowed to perform in the state.
In the same month, after targeting Dabur’s ‘Karwa Chauth’ ad, Mishra had issued a 24-hour “ultimatum” to designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee to withdraw an advertisement about a new line of jewellery, including a mangalsutra.
In January last year, Mishra, said he will file a case against the makers and actors of the web series Tandav, following an outrage which led to significant changes in the series.
In 2020, Mishra said that the Netflix miniseries A Suitable Boy depicts “extremely objectionable content” hurting religious sentiments.
(With PTI inputs)