Pathaan: Shah Rukh Khan’s film undergoes 10 cuts by CBFC, controversial Besharam Rang song stays

As the release date of Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone comes closer, more troubles for their film Pathaan seem to be cropping up every single day.

According to a report by E Times, the Censor Board has dropped over ten scenes and words from Pathaan.

The film’s controversial song, Besharam Rang, has also been censored heavily in the movie. The film also had to undergo changes as far as dialogues and certain shots are concerned. The word ‘RAW’ has been changed to ‘Hamare’, ‘Langde Lulle’ has been replaced with ‘Toote Foote’, the term ‘PM’ has been changed to ‘President or Minister’, and the word ‘PMO’ has been replaced in 13 places in the film, according to the same report. ‘Ashok Chakra’ got replaced by ‘Veer Purashkar’, ‘ex-KGB’ with ‘ex-SBU’, ‘Mrs Bharatmata’ by ‘Hamari Bharatmata’, and ‘Scotch’ by ‘drink’. Additionally, ‘Black Prison, Russia’, which got replaced by ‘Black Prison’ only.

Many shots have been asked to remove from the controversial song Besharam Rang. As per the report, the closeup shots of b*tts, ‘side pose’ (which has been termed as ‘partial nudity’) and the sensuous dance shots were also replaced with ‘suitable shots’. Interestingly, Deepika Padukone’s controversial saffron bikini has not been discussed in the report.

On Wednesday, several members of right-wing pressure groups Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal on Wednesday generated chaos and vandalised a mall in Ahmedabad where they tore posters and other publicity articles related to the film as a mark of protest against the release Pathaan. The incident took place at the Alpha One Mall Vastrapur area, as per a report by news agency ANI.

As per the same report following the incident on Wednesday, the Vastrapur police have detained five members and the same was confirmed by inspector J K Dangar. All five of the alleged culprits were released later.

A now-viral video was shared by VHP through their official Twitter handle. In the video, the activists can be seen screaming and shouting slogans, tearing posters apart and cut-outs of the film’s star cast comprising Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone.

Earlier, the Gujarat wing of the VHP had said that they will not allow the screening of the film anywhere in Gujarat, citing the reason that Deepika Padukone has worn a saffron bikini in Besharam Rang thereby hurting Hindu sentiments.

“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,” said Hitendrasinh Rajput, Gujarat VHP spokesperson, as per PTI.

Pooja Bhatt is one of the first Indian celebrities to react to the incident, saying, “Protest-An organised public demonstration of disapproval”(of some law,policy,idea,or state of affairs) Riot-A disturbance of the peace created by an assemblage of people acting with a common purpose & in a violent/tumultuous manner to the terror of the public.”

Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone’s film Pathaan is scheduled to release on January 25, 2023.