Lokah in soup over portrayal of Bengaluru as ‘capital of drugs and crime’, dialogue deemed ‘demeaning to its girls’; Dulquer Salmaan and Raj B Shetty apologise

National Award-winning Kannada director Mansore also condemned the depiction, which he felt was a common practice in some of their films as well. “In Kannada film Bheema, Malayalam films Officer on Duty, Avesham, and now Lokah, Bengaluru is being portrayed as the capital of drugs and crime. Once upon a time, it was represented in movies as a beautiful town… It has come to such a state due to uncontrolled migration,” he wrote on social media.

Slamming the perceived derogatory dialogue in the movie, Kannada activist Rupesh Rajanna demanded that the makers issue an apology. He also urged actor-filmmaker Raj B Shetty, the distributor of Lokah in Karnataka, to remove the offensive dialogue from the film.

Dulquer Salmaan, Raj B Shetty react to Lokah controversy

In response, the makers issued a statement expressing their apology on Tuesday evening. “It has come to our attention that a dialogue delivered by one of the characters in our film Lokah: Chapter One has unintentionally hurt the sentiments of people from Karnataka. At Wayfarer Films, we place people above everything else. We deeply regret this oversight and assure you that no offence was intended. The dialogue in question will be removed/edited at the earliest. We sincerely apologise for the hurt caused and humbly request you to accept our apology,” the statement, jointly issued by production company Wayfarer Films and Raj B Shetty’s Lighter Buddha Films, read.

Bankrolled by actor Dulquer Salmaan under the banner of his Wayfarer Films, Lokah is fast approaching the Rs 100 crore mark and has already grossed Rs 66 crore worldwide, according to industry tracker Sacnilk. After opening to Rs 2.7 crore in the domestic market on day one (Thursday), it minted Rs 17.7 crore during the weekend. On its first Monday in theatres, Lokah earned an impressive Rs 7.2 crore. The superhero movie’s total India nett collection, as of 6 pm on Tuesday, stands at Rs 36.18 crore.