Bollywood Movies That Got Embroiled In Controversies (Part 1)

Controversy has now become popular in Bollywood whether it is period dramas, musical films or biopics. Here are Bollywood movies that landed into trouble for different reasons.

My Name Is Khan

The Karan Johar directorial landed in trouble after Shah Rukh Khan refused to apologize for his remarks of supporting the inclusion of Pakistani players in India’s Premier League. In response, the nationalist Hindu party Shiv Sena attacked both the actor and his film by threatening to block the release date of the film in Mumbai.

Rockstar

The film’s soundtrack Sadda Haq faced the ire of the Central Board of Film Certification since it included one flag with the word “Free Tibet” written on it, which sent one strong political message. Later, the words from the flag were blurred before the film hit the cinema. However, Tibetan fans of the film were upset with the censor board’s decision and showed their objection by carrying the flag with them to the cinema halls on the opening of the film.

Madras Cafe

This Nargis Fakhri and John Abraham- starrer was initially titled Jaffna, however, many people found it offensive stating that it portrayed the northern Sri Lankan city, Jaffna in a bad light. As a result, the makers were forced to rename it to Madras Café.

R…Rajkumar

The Prabhu Dheva’s film starring Sonakshi Sinha and Shahid Kapoor was originally called Rambo Rajkumar. However, the title faced the wrath of the director of famous Hollywood franchise Rambo featuring Sylvester Stallone, who accused Prabhu Dheva of violating copyright issues. Following that, Prabhu decided to change the title to R…Rajkumar and the film managed to perform well at the ticket window.

PK

Helmed by Rajkumar Hirani and starring Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, PK is considered as one of the highest-grossing films of Bollywood. It landed into trouble with some religious outfits staged protesters, who requested the CBFC to impose a ban on the film as well as remove the objectionable scenes for communal harmony. However, the Censor Board declined to take these actions because “the film already out for public viewing”.

Bajirao Mastani

The film featuring Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, and Priyanka Chopra got embroiled in a controversy for allegedly distorting historical facts of the era of Peshwa rulers. Also, many did not go down well with the way Bajirao Peshwas’ wife Kashibai was portrayed in the movie, which was not accurate in comparison with the actual history. In spite of that, Bajirao Mastani still managed to become one of the biggest hits in that year.

Bombay Velvet

The Anurag Kashyap’s film is regarded as one of the Ranbir Kapoor’s most memorable films in his career. Before its release, the word “Bombay” was beeped out by the Censor Board from the song sung by Mihir Joshi, therefore, many wondered if Anurag Kashyap would be asked to change the film’s title. Fortunately, the Censor Board decided to retain the name because the film was not one period drama.

Bajrangi Bhaijaan

The Kabir Khan directorial starring Bollywood superstar Salman Khan is second highest-grossing Bollywood film. It was approved by Censor Board after five cuts in order to avoid hurting the religious sentiment of Muslims and Hindus. The movie also faced the heat when it was released in Pakistan with some people claimed that “it has anti-Pak overtones”.

Phantom

Phantom faced objections from CBFC for its poster in which Saif and Katrina can be seen blindfolded by an Indian tricolor flag. The Censor Board put pressure on the makers to take out the Ashoka Chakra from it.

ABCD 2

The second installment of Remo Dsouza’s super hit ABCD franchise received some heat from CBFC for its controversial dialog, “All Indians Are Beggars”. The Censor Board later asked the filmmakers to remove it out of the movie.