Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; April 4, 2017)

Members of a right-wing group have raised objection to a ‘saat phera’ scene in upcoming film Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laaddoo Deewana and held protests outside the makers’ office yesterday. The said scene involves lead actress Akshara Haasan’s character, a pregnant girl, observing the ritual of seven rounds around the fire. Activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad argue that as per Hindu customs, if a pregnant woman participates in saat pheras, the child that she carries in her womb also gets married to the man.

Laali Ki Shaadi… producer TP Aggarwal says an activist had sent him a text message about cutting out that portion from the film after the promos went on air, but he didn’t pay heed to it. Yesterday, he was shocked to find a group of activists demonstrating outside his office in Andheri.

Says Aggarwal, “They raised slogans demanding that the scene be removed, but I told them the Censor Board has cleared the film and I won’t bow to pressure tactics. After protesting for a while, they dispersed. I categorically told them that the scene will not be deleted." Incidentally, in the long-running telly soap Balika Vadhu, a heavily pregnant Sugna (Vibha Anand) was shown getting married to Shyam (Vikrant Massey).

Meanwhile, Akshara continues to remain missing from the film’s promotions, as reported in hitlist on March 28.