Saffron Bikini Archives - Lokmarg

Satyam Shrivastava, a Delhi-based development professional, says Indian audience is fed up with the cancel culture which selectively targets a section of Bollywood

I watched the Shahrukh-starrer Pathaan a couple of days back with my family at a PVR multiplex in New Delhi. The excitement around the theatre was palpable; it was teeming with SRK fans. Despite the increased prices of tickets, there was heavy rush at the booking window. I think such a rage was seen for the first time since the reopening of cinema halls after Covid days.

It is possible that the calls to boycott the movie had sparked some kind of defiant thrill among Shahrukh Khan’s admirers. I am in no doubt that Pathaan will prove to be a ‘bounce back’ moment for Bollywood.

I had my individual reasons to watch the movie; I went there in support of Shahrukh Khan. I am sure I was not alone with the cause. The entire opposition to the movie was based on a ridiculous argument: a brief clip of Deepika Padukone wearing an orange (some saw saffron) bikini and singing Besharam Rang. Clearly, the target of the boycott brigade was Shahrukh Khan and Deepika, not the movie or the perceived vulgarity.

These two are film stars have, in their silent and subtle conduct, defied the Hindutva majoritarianism. Despite all kinds of state and non-state harassment, they have stood their ground. While Deepika made her silent presence felt in solidarity with Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students, Shahrukh Khan, stoically countered a conspiratorial campaign against his son Aryan and did not line up to serve the powers that be. This had riled the Hindutva brigade no end who champion a different idea of ‘New India’.

ALSO READ: ‘Pathaan Injects A Fresh Lease Of Life In Bollywood’

Shahrukh and Deepika represent an ‘old India’ where artists were recognised by their talent and not by their surname, caste or ideology. And the movie, Pathaan stands like a non-violent resistance symbol to the boycott brigade representing a majoritarian ideology.

There are reports that many theatres have started additional slots to screen Pathaan; single-screen theatres have got the opportunity they had been long waiting for; and about the audience is going berserk when Salman Khan makes and entry. It proves that the audiences are fed up with such baseless boycott calls, and have collectively stood up to the threats by showing up in large numbers. The message is: We shall decide which movie to watch or disregard.

Pathaan is an entertaining ensemble of filmy massalas. And entertainment remains the main objective of any artwork. The film will also be a trendsetter in terms of the use of technology in Hindi cinema and pave way for making films in the same league as the Marvel Studios of Hollywood. Air fights, high-speed biking on ice, VFX footages are all very common in western cinema. Now these are being served by Bollywood too.

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(The narrator is the director of a Delhi-based civil society organisation, SRUTI (Society for Rural, Urban and Tribal Initiative)

As told to Abhishek Srivastava

Yusra Naqvi, a student of history in Jamia Millia Islamia University, says Shahrukh and Deepika have been targeted for not pandering to the powers that be

Amid the catastrophic rise in poverty and hunger index, inflation, violence, mass unemployment, delinquency and many more disturbing and important issues longing for public attention, the Indian media has been flooded of late with bigotry and frivolous claims over a song controversy in the film ‘Pathaan’. Some Right-wing politicians and religious leaders have demanded that the movie should be banned and boycotted, owing to the saffron-coloured bikini worn by actress Deepika Padukone in the song, Besharam Rang, which, literally, means ‘shameless colour’. The song is accused of disrespecting the colour saffron which they reportedly consider as a symbol of the Sanatan Dharma.

The argument is apparently vague and unnecessary with a clear intention of spreading hatred by the religious appropriation of a universal colour which can be used by people of any community at their own will. The diffusion of cultures by intermingling of various sects and communities is indicative of a historically ‘shared’ Indian culture. Saffron is considered auspicious in many Islamic as well as other religious occasions and practices, hence, it cannot be symbolic of one religion in particular.

These claims represent a narrow and sectarian understanding of religion, as a whole, while reflecting, yet again, a sense of growing intolerance which aims at strengthening communal biases and hate politics.

ALSO READ: ‘Boycott Calls Won’t Work, Nor Will Vulgarity’

This ‘cancel culture’ has become a repetitive phenomenon in recent times, where certain titles, scenes or songs of movies have been called out for hurting the religious sentiments of people. However, in the present case, a female, and her exposed body, is being regarded as ‘obscene’, linking it to the prestige of saffron.

Such statements targeting women’s clothing in today’s world are deplorable and retrograde. Instead, why do we not vent our annoyance for films and songs promoting violence and the objectification of women? Indeed, the dogmatic justifications of meaningless claims are thus filled with bigotry and misogyny in the name of religious sentiments.

This can be seen as an attempt by the Right-wing ultra-nationalists to assert their ideological dominance in every sphere of public life and to impose their opinion by encouraging this forcible pattern of ‘cancel culture’. For this, they tend to choose specific celebrities who are seemingly easy to target based on past controversies.

For instance, no objection was meted out when a BJP supporter danced on a hit Bhojpuri song, wearing saffron robes. But, on the other hand, Shahrukh Khan, being a Muslim celebrity, is targeted for wearing a ‘green’ shirt.

Three years ago, just before the release of her movie Chapaak, Deepika Padukone was defamed as a ‘sympathiser of the Tukde-Tukde Gang’ when all she did was stand in solidarity with JNU students against the violence inflicted upon them by Right-wing masked goons inside the campus. This had barely anything to do with the theme of the film which was based on acid-attack survivors.

Similarly, the movie Pathaan has been dragged into controversy serving no other purpose than feeding the political interests of a particular group of people. In recent times, Indian cinema, always deeply secular and celebrating pluralism, was established with the sole purpose of entertainment while reflecting certain social narratives of contemporary India. It is now being misused as a means of spreading feelings of bitterness and contempt within the masses. We, as a society, need to condemn this practice and look beyond narrow horizons which restrict social harmony.

As told to Amit Sengupta

Tag: Saffron Bikini

Pathaan’s Success Is A Fitting Response To Boycott Brigade

Bigotry Is Being Passed As Religious Sentiment