Chandigarh, April 13
Bollywood and other films
showing anything to do with the Sikh religion or portraying characters
as Sikhs are running into trouble with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee (SGPC), the mini-parliament of Sikh religion, and other Sikh
groups.
The latest controversy is over the film "Nanak Shah
Fakir", which portrays the life and times of Sikhism's founder Guru
Nanak Dev and his family and is to be released on April 17. The SGPC has
sought a ban on the release of the film, which garnered a lot of
appreciation at the Cannes Film Festival and the Sikh Film Festivals at
Toronto and Los Angeles.
Produced by Harinder Singh Sikka, a
Sikh, the film's release is being objected to by the SGPC, the Akal
Takht and radical Sikh groups like the Dal Khalsa and All India Sikh
Students Federation (AISSF).
"The said movie (Nanak Shah Fakir)
is an assault on the fundamental tenets of the Sikh religion. Sikhs
cannot allow denigration of their religion in pictorial or other forms,"
Dal Khalsa leader Kanwarpal Singh told IANS.
SGPC president
Avtar Singh Makkar has shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley, pointing
out that the film violated Sikh tenets which did not allow the portrayal
of the Guru and his family by human beings.
Though Sikka claimed
that the whole episode is driven by some "political agenda", Makkar
refuted him saying that the SGPC never cleared the film.
"What is
happening now is plain politics and pressure tactics by fringe elements
who were also against the release of 'Chaar Sahibzaade'," Sikka said in
a statement. Directed by Harry Baweja, "Chaar Sahibzaade" was a 2014
animated historical film on the sacrifices of the sons of the 10th Sikh
guru, Gobind Singh.
This is not the first time that a film has
run into trouble with the SGPC, Akal Takht - the highest temporal seat
of Sikh religion - and fringe Sikh groups.
In recent years, the
SGPC has even objected to films which have been cleared by the Central
Board of Film Certification (CBFC), better known as the Censor Board.
The
films that have run into trouble in recent years include "MSG - The
Messenger" (2015) of controversial godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of
Dera Sacha Sauda sect, "Singh is Kinng" (2008), "Son of Sardar" (2008)
and "Jo Bole So Nihal" (2005).
In May 2005, "Jo Bole So Nihal"
shows were hit by blasts in two cinema halls in New Delhi. The film had
Sunny Deol, son of famous yesteryear actor Dharmendra, who belongs to a
Sikh family, playing the lead.
One of the biggest blockbusters of
recent years, "Singh is Kinng" had Akshay Kumar as a turbaned Sikh
protagonist throughout the film. Some Sikh bodies though did object to
the way his beard was cut in the film.
Top male actors Salman
Khan, Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt and Saif Ali Khan have played Sikh
characters with turban and beards in Hindi films. Ranbir Kapoor, whose
mother Neetu Singh comes from a Sikh family, followed suit in "Rocket
Singh".
The SGPC, which is not against the portrayal of Sikh
characters, does want that any film concerning the religion should be
shown to its committee.
"Any reference to the Sikh religion and
portrayal of Sikhs should be done in a proper manner. This should be
cleared by the SGPC," Makkar said, adding that the SGPC wanted that the
Censor Board should have at least two of its (SGPC) nominees so that
controversies are avoided.
(Jaideep Sarin can be contacted at jaideep.s@ians.in )
