“It has become fashionable to shoot controversial content and then benefit from the ‘free’ publicity”: Actor and filmmaker Dr Pranav Kabra on Pathaan film issue

MUMBAI: Speaking to media persons in Mumbai, filmmaker and actor Dr Pranav Kabra said, “It has become fashionable to shoot controversial content and then benefit from the “free” publicity.

He was reacting to the controversy around Shah Rukh Khan’s film Pathaan and Deepkia Padukone’s ‘saffron’ attire and some scenes in the ‘Behsaram‘ song.

Mumbai-based Dr Pranav Kabra, Managing Director of Raksha Multispeciality Hospital Malad, Mumbai and producer of PSK Creative Works Pvt Ltd who has produced and also acted in films like Matangi and Chhello Divas, both of which have been released, said directors and filmmakers should be sensitive to certain topics, unless they want to give “free” publicity to their film or stoke up a controversy for obvious reasons.

Meanwhile, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has strongly reacted to Padukone’s ‘saffron’ attire and some scenes in the ‘Behsaram‘ song of the Pathaan movie and demanded that Yash Raj Films and director Siddharth Anand remove the objectionable parts from the film. They also threatened to disrupt the screening of the film and call for a nationwide ban.

“I am not against individual creativity and freedom of expression. I am very much for it. I do not condemn any production or project, but in the same vein, I think filmmakers, directors and producers should be sensitive to certain subjects, topics and issues,” Dr Kabra opined.

Dr Kabra has not only produced the movies in-house under his banner PSK Creative Works Pvt Ltd, he has also played the main lead role in Matangi.

His production house has also contract-produced several episodes for major OTT platforms.

He is a cardiac and diabetes expert who runs three hospitals in Mumbai Metropolitan region (MMR).

The controversy over the upcoming film Pathaan continues to rage on with VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal saying that Hindu society will never accept such a film.

Raising a string of objections to Deepika Padukone’s saffron attire in the song ‘Besharam Rang‘, Bansal said, “Dubbing bhagwa (saffron) as besharam (shameless) and indulging in indecent or flirtatious acts is the height of anti-Hindu mentality.

“MP Home Minister, BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Thakur strongly objected to Padukone’s costume in a song of ‘Pathaan‘ and demanded that if certain scenes are not “corrected”, the state government will consider a ban on its screening. Thakur also called for a boycott of the SRK-starrer if the offending scenes were not chopped.

Union Minister and BJP MP Giriraj Singh, Saturday dared Pathaan movie actor Shah Rukh Khan to make a film on Islam and the life of Prophet Muhammad.

Speaking on the Pathaan controversy, Singh said if the Bollywood superstar makes a film on Islam and Prophet, he would consider him a secular person.

The controversy is likely to reach the Madhya Pradesh Assembly maybe today.

Meanwhile, a complaint petition was also filed before a court in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, seeking an FIR against Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone for “hurting religious sentiments” of Hindus.