Soon after Madhya Pradesh’s Home Minister Narottam Mishra criticised the movie Pathaan’s song “Besharam Rang” for the supposedly impure attire worn by Deepika Padukone, the state’s assembly speaker Girish Gautam expressed similar views. Even Shah Rukh Khan, the primary actor in the movie, was challenged to see it with his daughter Suhana.
“I would like to tell this to Shah Rukh Khan that his daughter is now 23-24 years old. Go and watch the film with your daughter and post the picture on social media saying that I am watching this film with my daughter in which there is Deepika Padukone,” he said in a video while speaking to a group of reporters in his office.
Along with challenging the filmmakers to create a film on Prophet Mohammed, Girish Govind made a subtle allusion to Deepika’s saffron-colored bikini in the song. “I challenge you to produce a movie on the Prophet in the cause of liberty. There will be rioting everywhere, he continued.
Pathaan, which was directed by Siddharth Anand and produced by Aditya Chopra’s studio Yash Raj Films, has drawn criticism from the political establishment and ‘religious’ organisations that represent both Hinduism and Islam.
The release date for Pathaan is set for January 25, 2023.