Courting controversy: Aamir Khan's shocker; Ajay's compromise

It is but normal that controversies spurt around the release date of movies which is a way of getting publicity for not just the films but also for people who are part of the controversy.

But then here is a controversy about the Aamir Khan film ‘PK’ that has started way before the release of the film. In fact a simple sample poster of the film with Aamir Khan holding nothing but a transistor has become news and has created a furore.

Aamir Khan defends the poster as something that has been done because the director of the film Raj Kumar Hirani wanted to convey something.

“When you see the film only will you realise why the poster is so. I will not be able to tell you anything at the moment except the fact that Raj Kumar Hirani is a master filmmaker and he knows his job well and has a vision,” says Aamir Khan.

Khan says that there are controversies around film, but this is not something designed to solicit trouble!

“If you saw the poster of ‘Taare Zameen Par’ with a teacher and a student, here is a poster that is very clearly indicative of the subject of the film. But you need to see the film to know why. This is not really designed to be a sensational poster, but then we have had a huge feedback for it,” says Aamir Khan.

However, India’s Supreme Court has refused to entertain a public interest litigation seeking ban on the release of PK for promoting nudity and vulgarity.

Dismissing the plea, the apex court told the petitioner, "If you don't like then don't watch the film but don't bring religious facets in it", adding that, "these are matters of art and entertainment and let them remain so."

However, the court, said, “any restrictions on release of film would affect constitutional right of the film makers”.

In the meantime, the Ajay Devgn film ‘Singham Returns’ has also run into a tangle with a religious organisation that had a problem with the movie.

Ajay preferred an out-of -ourt settlement with the complainants and heeded to their request of changing a line in the film.

Ajay also agreed to put a disclaimer in the film that the film does not intend to hurt any religious sentiments.

Not long ago Ajay Devgn had another piece of problem when his film ‘Son of Sardar’ fell into trouble with the Sikh community.

The community objected to Ajay who was playing a Sikh in the film showing off a Shiva tattoo on his body which they felt were against the tents of their religion.

Ajay immediately apologized and made relevant changes which also meant some dialogues had to be changed.

“Creativity should not hurt people and what can be changed should be changed and it is all for the betterment of the film and the people at large,” says Devgn.

A similar controversy took place last year with reference to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film ‘Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ramleela’ where some religious bodies had a problem with the title ‘Ram Leela’.

They felt that ‘Ram Leela’ was a word associated with the religion and should not be used as a title of the film.

The movie had Ranveer Singh playing Ram while Deepika Padukone played Leela. But then Bhansali did change the title to ‘Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram Leela’.

Sunny Deol’s film ‘Singh Saab The Great’ also faced a title controversy. Sikh leaders said that ‘Singh Saheb The Great’ was a sacred title and should not be used for commercial purposes.

As such controversies keep erupting with reference to films. How filmmakers use it for their benefit, however, remains to be seen.

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