2023: Controversies that rocked Hindi entertainment industry

PTI, Dec 31, 2023, 4:42 PM IST

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Like every year, 2023 also had its fair share of controversies. It started with the colour politics of the song ”Besharam Rang” from ”Pathaan”, featuring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, and ended with the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer ”Animal” espousing the virtues of the alpha male, dominating both headlines and box office collections.

Here are some of them: 1. ”Pathaan”: The Hindi film industry stepped into the new year with a controversy at the ready. ”Pathaan”, the stylish spy thriller, faced boycott calls over its song ”Besharam Rang” prior to its release on January 25, with right wing groups objecting to Deepika’s orange bikini. Some politicians also slammed the track for hurting religious sentiments.

Despite the brouhaha, the film went on to become one of the biggest Hindi blockbusters of 2023 with over Rs 1,000 crore at the worldwide box office. 2. ”The Kerala Story”: The film, directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Shah, polarised the political discourse in the country, leading to bans in some states and a tax-free status in others. Branded as ”propaganda”, the film depicts how women from Kerala were forced to convert and recruited by the terror group Islamic State (IS).

Mounted on a reported budget of around Rs 20 crore, ”The Kerala Story” grossed Rs 300 crore at the global box office.

3. ”Adipurush”: With names such as pan-India star Prabhas and National Award-winning director Om Raut attached to it, this retelling of the Ramayana was high on promise but fizzled out upon its June 14 release as it courted trouble over its pedestrian language and poor quality of VFX. Many political parties also demanded a ban on the film.

The film, reportedly mounted on a budget of Rs 500 crore, earned Rs 340 crore in the first three days but the box office collections went significantly down after the opening weekend.

4. ”OMG 2”: Starring Pankaj Tripathi and Akshay Kumar, the film was reportedly stuck with the Central Board of Film Certification for over two weeks.

The board cleared the movie, which shone a light on the importance of sex education in India, for its scheduled release on August 11 with an ‘A’ (for adults) certificate and a few modifications. ”OMG 2”, a spiritual sequel to the 2012 film ”OMG: Oh My God!”, earned over Rs 221 crore worldwide, emerging as the one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of 2023.

5. ”Bawaal”: Ironically, this Nitesh Tiwari directorial stayed true to the meaning of its title (‘bawaal’ means ‘uproar’). Starring Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor, the film stirred up a controversy for using the Holocaust as a reference to narrate a story of marital discord.

The Israeli embassy in India issued a statement, saying it was ”disturbed by the trivialisation of the significance of the Holocaust” in the movie. A prominent Jewish group also called for the film’s removal from streaming platform Prime Video, where it debuted on July 21.

6. ”Animal”: This Ranbir-starrer has emerged as the most divisive film of 2023 which received criticism for its graphic content, extreme violence, and treatment of female characters. It’s also noteworthy that the Sandeep Reddy Vanga directorial is one of the top earning Hindi films of the year with box office figures north of Rs 800 crore.

The debate also reached the Parliament where Chhattisgarh’s INC MP Ranjeet Ranjan slammed the film for its ”violent” content. Earlier, actor-singer-lyricist Swanand Kirkire also criticised ”Animal” on social media.