AHMEDABAD: Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal members forcibly entered a mall in Vastrapur area of Ahmedabad on Wednesday and tore up posters and publicity material of the upcoming film Pathaan.
Filmmaker director Rahul Dholakia, who directed Shah Rukh Khan's movie Raees, was scathing in his condemnation, saying, "This is not protesting, it's called vandalism and hooliganism!"
Vastrapur police inspector JK Dangar said, "We rushed to the spot and detained five activists, they were released later."
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In a series of videos shared by Bajrang Dal, its north Gujarat president Jawalit Mehta can be seen shouting slogans and tearing posters and large cutouts of Pathaan's star cast.
Gujarat VHP spokesperson Hitendrasinh Rajput said, "We will not allow Pathaan's screening in Gujarat. Today's protest against the movie's release in Ahmedabad should be taken as a warning by all the theatre owners across the state. They must stay away from releasing the movie in their theatres or multiplexes."
Pathaan, which will mark SRK's comeback on the big screen after four years, courted controversy when certain groups raised objections to the orange-coloured swimsuit donned by Deepika Padukone in the song Besharam Rang. The critics claimed the depiction hurt religious sentiments.
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