Bollywood films that courted controversy over religious topics

Bollywood movies are generally perceived as an entertainment package with song dance romance and stunts as its basic ingredients But every once in a while there comes a film which dares to break the stereotypical mould mdash by exploring sensitive or taboo topics that are otherwise hastily swept under the carpetParesh Rawal features in Dharam Sankat Mein as a Hindu man who despises Muslims only to find out later that he was born Muslim and adopted by a Hindu familyA case in point is Dharam Sankat Mein which hit the theatres yesterday The comedy which stars Paresh Rawal Naseeruddin Shah and Annu Kapoor stirs up issues that generally donrsquot make for polite dinner table conversations even though they need to be discussed and debated upon The film revolves around a staunch Hindu Rawal who goes through an identity crisis when he discovers he was born Muslim but adopted by a Hindu family The plot was considered so controversial and sensitive that the Censor Board reportedly invited a Hindu priest and a Maulvi to supervise the filmrsquos certification process and asked for some ldquooffensiverdquo scenes to be deletedReligion apart from a few other issues has always been a sore point But an increasing number of filmmakers are transgressing the boundaries of social acceptability on the 70mm screen hitlist gives a lowdown on a few such films from the recent pastPK 2014Director Rajkumar HiraniCast Aamir Khan Anushka SharmaTalking point The film was mired in controversy as it was a satire on various sensitive issues like political beliefs religion and superstitions which are so deeply rooted in the social consciousness of India Aamir played an alien who is stuck on Earth and gradually unravels the ugly face of human greed and misuse of religion to onersquos advantage Hindutva groups took offence to certain scenes while some others pointed out that the film ldquounnecessarilyrdquo mocked Hindu beliefs and rituals and portrayed Hindus as either atheists or fanaticsm but didnrsquot touch other faiths There were also concerns that the film did not reach any conclusion on the existence of religion but simply questioned superstitionsDozakh In Search of Heaven 2015Director Zaigham ImamCast Lalit Tiwari Garrick ChaudharyTalking point It was centered on a Muslim father and son duo the former being a cleric and a true follower of the Islam He doesnrsquot like the fact that his son is friendly with a Hindu priest and much to his discomfort the boy shows a stubborn fondness for Hindu mythology and teachings This results in a conflict and the man loses his son eventually realising that he needs him more than religion The film was inspired by a novel of the same nameApparently the Censor Board sent the film to a selfrevision committee post its certification screening since there was no Muslim in the committee that had watched the film The then Board chief Leela Samson gave it a lsquoUrsquo certificate and apologised to the director as the film had been shown to a couple of priests albeit without her knowledgeMy Name Is Khan 2010Director Karan JoharCast Shah Rukh Khan KajolTalking point The film had SRK play an autistic Muslim man who suffers discrimination in the United States and ends up losing his stepson post the 911 terror attacks He is mistaken for a terrorist and undertakes a long journey across the US to prove his innocence to his wife Kajol My Namehellip faced a threat from a regional political outfit after the party took objection to Shah Rukhrsquos comments supporting the inclusion of Pakistani players in IPL that year and demanded a ban on the film Incidentally two years later New York airport security detained the star for lsquoextended questioningrsquo Though the exact reasons for the extensive interrogation was not disclosed allegations suggested racial profiling was at playBaby 2015Director Neeraj PandeyCast Akshay Kumar Anupam Kher Mikaal ZulfiqarTalking point It tackled an extremely sensitive subject of terrorism subtly driving home the point that it has no specific religion or region This muchacclaimed thriller was banned by the censor boards of Islamabad and Sindh two primary Pakistani markets for Bollywood films as it was based on an Indian spyrsquos mission to catch a terrorist based in Pakistan The film which also featured two actors from the neighbouring country was criticised for showing Muslims and Pakistanis in poor lightOh My God 2012Director Umesh ShuklaCast Paresh Rawal Akshay Kumar Mithun ChakrabortyTalking point The comedydrama carried a significant social message without losing its wit and humour Revolving around an atheist it came as a breath of fresh air amid a huge pile of masala movies It highlighted the commercialisation of religion in a country where people worship millions of deities and repose blind faith in godmen While the filmrsquos theatrical screening was halted at many places by right wing parties a year later the Madhya Pradesh High Court asked the Censor Board to take action against allegedly objectionable comments against Hinduism The ruling was based on a petition alleging that the film makes derogatory references to religion