Mohabbatein — Varanasi pandits step up tirade against Big B

LUCKNOW, NOVEMBER 28: After Deepa Mehta, Varanasi pandits have now trained their guns on superstar Amitabh Bachchan. Rejecting Bachchan's ...

LUCKNOW, NOVEMBER 28: After Deepa Mehta, Varanasi pandits have now trained their guns on superstar Amitabh Bachchan. Rejecting Bachchan’s statement that he was not wearing shoes while reciting the Gayatri Mantra in film Mohabbatein, they are threatening to hold agitations and move court if the “objectionable scene” is not removed from the film.

According to an agency report from Varanasi, a cinema hall there screening the film has already dropped the scene keeping in view the “sentiments” of the people of the temple town. The agency quoted the management as saying that the scenes had been shown for the past two days. Earlier, the Shiv Sena staged a dharna near the booking counter of the cinema hall demanding that the screening of the film be stopped as Bachchan had recited the Gayatri Mantra wrongly and with his shoes on.

Though Bachchan has denied this, the Ved Parayan Kendram, Kashi Sanskriti Raksha Sangharsh Samiti and Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust activists are not convinced and have decided to even perform a “prayashchit yagna” from December 9 to nullify “the bad impact” of Bachchan’s “action”. The agency report said the president of the Ved Parayan Kendram, Ashok Dwivedi, and spokesman of the Kashi Sanskrit Raksha Sangharsh Samiti, Kaushal Kishore Misra, today welcomed the withdrawal of the scene from the film by the Varanasi cinema hall, terming it a victory for the people of the state.

Story continues below this ad

The three organisations have also sent a letter to Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sushma Swaraj, urging her to get the “objectionable scene” deleted from the film.

Rubbishing Bachchan’s claim that he was not wearing shoes while reading out the mantra, the Varanasi pandits add that he had also mispronounced the second, third and 23rd letters.

“While reciting the mantra, Amitabh Bachchan, who plays the role of a school principal, stood on the podium of the assembly hall. This is not the manner in which the mantra is chanted,” Dwivedi says. Adding that, according to Hindu tradition, the mantra should be recited or heard barefeet, he adds that the students hearing the Gayatri Mantra are also wearing shoes in the scene. “A conspiracy is on to finish the Hindu religion,” he says, adding, “We won’t tolerate it at any cost.”

The pandits have also objected to the chanting of swaha after the recital of the mantra which too, they say, is against Hindu tradition. “We were shocked to see Amitabh Bachchan, who belongs to a religious family and is a staunch believer of Hindu tradition, committing such blunders,” they add.

Story continues below this ad

Earlier, the Ved Parayan Kendram and Kashi Sanskriti Raksha Sangharsh Samiti activists had launched a tirade against filmmaker Deepa Mehta and forced her and her crew to leave Varanasi without shooting her controversial film Water. They had taken to the streets and damaged the sets constructed by her.

Prashant Kishor: ‘Democracy not weak… Those saying people will lose vote rights are fools’

Political Pulse17 min ago

Political strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor launched his Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) after three years touring Bihar. The coming Assembly polls will be the first test of his goal to emerge as the third alternative in Bihar politics. Kishor speaks to The Indian Express about his party’s campaign, and the issues being raised by his rivals.

View all shorts

Live Blog