Is This Shahrukh’s Counter To Saffron Bikini Trolls?

While the teaser of Superstar Shahrukh Khan’s upcoming film “Pathaan” has enthralled many, the video song “Besharam Rang” from the film has upset a section of society. Especially the saffron brigade got hurt because heroine Deepika Padukone slipped into n orange colored bikini, and a Madhya Pradesh minister even warned that there will be consequences if her costume is not changed.

Well, there is no straight reaction from SRK about this whole fiasco, while some are already trending hashtags like #BanPathaan and #BoycottPathaan on social media. However, other day Shahrukh has given a somewhat complicated speech at Kolkata International Film Festival’s opening ceremony, where he compared social media and cinema, and that looked like a dig at the criticism the song is facing at the given moment.

“Social media is often driven by the certain narrowness of view. Also, negativity increases social media consumption; and makes it more divisive spreading divisive and hatred politics. But cinema exposes the vulnerability of human nature by telling stories in simplest form and it would appeal to the larger form of the audience” said Shahrukh Khan, indirectly hinting that cinema is bigger than social media and these threats don’t intimidate him.

With Pathaan set for a worldwide release on January 25, 2023, one wonders in what shape this controversy around the bikini song will snowball into. These days trolling on social media became a common thing, but then, some observers believe that people are taking boycott calls seriously as well.