UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Boycott Bollywood and Pathaan’s Besharam Rang row: ‘Artist should be respected, but…’

Subsequently, calls were made to boycott the film as it had allegedly defamed the religion and certain cinema halls in parts of the country were vandalised, even on the day of the release of the film on January 25.

In an interview with Network18, Yogi Adityanath was asked to comment on the boycott culture and the Besharam Rang row, to which the CM said, “The film director should also take into consideration while making a film that it should not have scenes which could give rise to controversy or hurt public sentiments.”

“Any artist, litterateur or anyone with accomplishments should be respected. Uttar Pradesh has also made a policy for films and many films are being made in the state,” he added.

Actor Suniel Shetty was the first in Bollywood to speak against the Boycott Bollywood trend on social media and had urged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister to help erase hatred against the Hindi film industry and the ‘Boycott Bollywood’ trend.

A week before Pathaan’s release, however, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cautioned BJP leaders from making unnecessary remarks against movies and personalities to grab headlines. During the BJP National Executive meeting in New Delhi, PM Modi had said, “No one should make unnecessary comments that would overshadow the hard work we do.”

During a press conference recently to celebrate the success of Pathaan, Shah Rukh Khan had likened himself and his costars to Amar, Akbar, Anthony, the characters from Manmohan Desai’s 1977 hit.

“This is Deepika, she is Amar, I’m Shah Rukh Khan, I’m Akbar and John he is Anthony. We are ‘Amar, Akbar, Anthony’. And this is what makes cinema… There are no differences any one of us have with any culture. We are hungry for audience’s love. All these crores are not important… The love we receive…nothing is bigger than that,” Shah Rukh had said.

Despite vandalism, protests and boycott calls, Pathaan opened to historic numbers on its opening day and smashed all box office records. The film has now officially entered the Rs 400 cr club— the first Hindi film in history to achieve the number.

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