Protests emerge against Taapsee Pannu starrer 'Haseen Dillruba' in Uttarakhand

Teerth Purohit Samaj, Ganga Sabha of Haridwar, as well as the Uttarakhand Cabinet Minister Swami Yatishwaranand, are very upset over some shots of the film 'Haseen Dillruba' which promote the use of alcohol, cigarettes and meat near the Ganga ghats in Haridwar.

Haridwar: Bollywood stars Taapsee Pannu, Vikrant Massey and Harshvardhan Rane starrer 'Haseen Dillruba' has again landed in controversy with protests emerging against the use of alcohol, cigarettes and meat near river Ganga ghats in Haridwar. Teerth Purohit Samaj, Ganga Sabha of Haridwar, as well as the Uttarakhand Cabinet Minister Swami Yatishwaranand, are very upset over some similar shots in the film which was released on the OTT platform Netflix earlier in the month.

The opposition has come in the wake of 'Operation Maryada' where Uttarakhand police are taking note of tourists consuming hookah and liquor at religious sites in Haridwar. The film shows various sequences where actor Vikrant Messi consumes alcohol and cigarettes while sitting on the banks of river Ganges and actress Taapsee Pannu feed meat to dogs at Laltara bridge in between Dam Kothi and Birla Ghat, the area which is surrounded by ashrams.

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Following this, the Ganga Sabha is planning to send a notice to the film producer and the members of the 'Being Bhagirath' organisation are also filing a case against the film and its actors. Ganga Sabha General Secretary Tanmay Vashisht said that the scenes shown in the film are objectionable as they have been filmed at religious sites of Hindu deities. "We are warning them to remove such shots from the film as soon as possible, else face legal proceedings," said Tanmay Vashisht.

On the other hand, Uttarakhand Cabinet Minister and MLA from Haridwar Rural Swami Yatishwaranand said that this kind of film content is an insult to the deities and the 'Devbhoomi' which will not be tolerated under any circumstances. "Strict action should be taken against those to try to malign the image of Hindu deities. Shooting wrong acts at religious sites are unacceptable it will also affect the mindest of the youth of our society," said Swami Yatishwaranand.

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Slamming the Uttarakhand government, Haridwar Mayor Anita Sharma said that a big-budget film like 'Haseen Dillruba' was shot in Haridwar after it got the nod from the government. "If such scenes are being filmed then it is the failure of the state government. The government should not allow such content to be filmed at any cost as Haridwar is a holy place for Hindus. If such scenes are shot on the banks of river Ganga, then people will develop a negative image about the place which is unacceptable," Anita Sharma said.

Reacting to this, Kalam Singh Chauhan, Deputy Director of the Film Council in the Information Department of the Uttarakhand government, said that the department's job is to permit the shooting but the producers and directors do not share the film script with others. "We can definitely ask them not to film such scenes as it might hurt the dignity of Uttarakhand," Kalam Singh Chauhan said.

Earlier, Netflix's 'Tandav' and 'A Suitable Boy' have also faced similar criticism and few shots from the film Kedarnath were also removed owing to religious aspects. Notably, the content of the film is under strict consideration of the Central Board of Film Certification and not the government.

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