Bollywood is famous for its nostalgic routine, dramatic plays and songs across the world. But Bollywood also produces some films that initiate social debates and socio-cultural controversies. Here is a list of the top five most controversial Indian films.
1. Madras Cafe
Release Date: August 23, 2013
Director: Shoojit Sircar
Starring: John Abraham, Nargis Fakhri, Rashi Khanna, Siddharth Basu, Prakash Belawadi
“Madras Cafe” is a hard-hitting and realistic movie based on the civil war in Sri Lanka. The film is a work of fiction but reveals some real events based on political facts and research. The movie was claimed by some to be ‘anti-Tamil’, due to the portrayal of Tamils as “terrorists”. The film showcases the conflict in Sri Lanka and the time when former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels in 1991 at an election rally in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
2. My Name Is Khan
Release Date: February 12, 2010 (Worldwide)
Director: Karan Johar
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Sony Jehan, Jimmy Shergill
“My Name is Khan” explored what it meant to be a Muslim in a post-9/11 world. Controversy erupted when no Pakistani players were selected in the draft of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Shahrukh Khan, who owns a team in the league, said that some should have been included. Later, Shiv Sena’s leader Bal Thackeray demanded an apology from Mr Khan, saying he had insulted Mumbai, given the 2008 terror attacks were conducted by militants trained in Pakistan. He threatened to carry out a protest by his party members. Many analysts even say Shiv Sena deliberately focused on Shahrukh Khan because he is a Muslim. Shiv Sena threatened Bollywood to disrupt movie openings.
At least 50 members of the Shiv Sena were arrested by the Mumbai police on charges of rioting and unlawful assembly and for trying to disrupt the screening of the film.
3. PK
Release Date: December 19, 2014
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Starring: Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma
“PK” is a movie that particularly depicts religious practices on the earth. It doesn’t focus on a particular religion but primarily on every religion whether that’s dominating or not. Shiv Sena members said the film hurt the sentiments of the Hindu community by mocking gods and needed to be banned. They threatened to disrupt the screening of the film if it was not banned.
4. Ram-Leela
Director: Sanjay Leela Bansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone
Starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, Ram-Leela went through numerous controversies just over its name alone. A petition was filed against the film in the Delhi HC accusing it of “hurting religious sentiments”. In addition, was said that since the word “Ram” is associated with Lord Ram and “Leela” with Lord Krishna, movie lovers would expect it to be a religious film, but instead, the film portrayed sex, violence and vulgarity, which deeply hurt Hindu religious sentiments.
So, the name was changed from “Ramleela” to “Ram-leela” and it is now called “Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela”.
5. Rang De Basanti
Release Date: January 26, 2006
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Starring: Aamir Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor, R. Madhavan, Siddharth
The movie was postponed due to controversy. The Indian Air Force (IAF) and Union Home Ministry objected to the way they had been depicted in the film and demanded that some portions be cut from the film. R Madhavan, who plays an air force pilot in the film, dies of a MIG-21 crash and the IAF is held responsible for that.
6. Padmavati
Director: Sanjay Leela Bansali
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Dipika Padukone
“Padmavati” is an upcoming epic drama directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali based on the poem Padmavat, written in the year 1840 by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi. The movie was expected in cinemas on December 1, 2017, but due to numerous controversies, the movie has been postponed and a new release date has not yet been announced.
The film became a galaxy of controversy during its production. There were allegations from different groups such as the Shri Rajput Karni Sena, claiming that the film was depicting inaccurate facts and portraying the Rajput queen Padmavati in a bad light. However, some journalists, like Arnab Goswami of Republic TV and Rajat Sharma of India TV have said that there is not even a single scene that will hurt the sentiments of Rajputs and their honour.