Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma: Actors who were accused of hurting religious sentiments

Bollywood celebs are always under the spotlight. Even the smallest of their mistakes come under the scanner and are magnified in the public eye. One of the things that many celebs have been condemned for, in the past few years, is for hurting the religious sentiments of the people of the country through their films or statements. From Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone to Anushka Sharma, here are actors who ran into trouble for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

A petition was filed in the Bombay High Court seeking action against Shah Rukh Khan and the makers of ‘Zero’ for allegedly hurting the sentiments of the Sikh community. It referred to the film’s trailer in which the superstar is seen wearing a vest and shorts, with a garland of Rs 500 notes around his neck and a ‘kirpan’ in a gatra tied diagonally across his body. The makers released a statement where they stated that it wasn't a kirpan but an ornamental dagger. Despite that, they had to alter the said scene through visual effects to depict an ornamental sword.

Every collaboration of Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Sanjay Leela Bhansali has worked wonders at the box office. However, it has also inspired ire from the public for hurting religious sentiments. While ‘Goliyon Ki Raasleela: Ram Leela’ was accused of not portraying the religious festival of Ram Leela correctly, ‘Bajirao Mastani’ was accused of not portraying Maratha leaders and Kashibai accurately. Hindu Right-wing Karni Sena widely protested against their last film, ‘Padmaavat’. From vandalism of the sets to nationwide protests demanding a ban against the movie to death threats, the multi-starrer faced way too much before it hit the big screens and became immensely successful.

While Rajkumar Hirani’s ‘PK’ starring Aamir Khan became one of the most successful and loved films in Bollywood, it was not without facing its share of controversies. Aamir and the makers of the film were accused of mocking Hindu Gods and Goddesses in the film. However, contrary to this, senior BJP leader LK Advani had praised the film, saying, “Hearty greetings to Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra for a wonderful and courageous film that they have produced in the shape of 'PK'. We are fortunate to have been born in a vast and variegated country like India. This however casts on all patriots a duty to ensure that nothing weakens the unity of the country—neither caste nor community nor language nor region, and certainly not religion”.

Kareena Kapoor Khan landed in trouble recently for her pregnancy book. The title, ‘Pregnancy Bible’ has reportedly offended some Christian groups who have filed a complaint against her. The ‘Veere Di Wedding' actress was also accused of hurting religious sentiments when there were reports of her charging Rs 12 crore to play the role of Sita.

Akshay Kumar made headlines after the makers of his film, ‘Laxmmi Bomb’ and he were accused of mocking the name of the Hindu Goddess Laxmi. Following the same, the makers were forced to change the name of the film to ‘Laxmii’. Even recently, when the actor released the poster of his upcoming film, ‘Ram Setu’, he received criticism from netizens over the film’s tagline that read, ‘Myth or Reality?’. A section of netizens trolled it for doubting the events in Hindu religion’s history.

Anushka Sharma has received immense praise for her production ventures but she has had to dodge the brickbats too. Her series, ‘Pataal Lok’ was reportedly accused of hurting religious sentiments by not one but two religious groups. First, it was accused of showing Sikhs in a poor light because it showed a Sikh man raping a woman. Then, the show was also slammed for glorifying beef-eating from the Hindu groups.

Raveena Tandon, along with comedian Bharti Singh and choreographer Farah Khan, was accused of hurting religious sentiments by a Christian group. In one of Farah’s shows, the three were seen trying to spell the word, ‘hallelujah’ and allegedly making fun of the word. In response to the complaint, Raveena lent a clarification on her social media handles that read, ‘Please do watch this link. I haven't said a word that can be interpreted as an insult to any religion. The three of us never intended to offend anyone, but in case we did, my most sincere apologies to those who were hurt”.