Accusing the Sushant Singh Rajput-Sara Ali Khan starrer of promoting love jihad, Kedarnath priests urge makers to change movie's title, insist on special screening before release
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; November 7, 2018)

Just when it seemed that Kedarnath has left its troubles behind, Sara Ali Khan's debut film has hit another roadblock. After the trailer was launched last week, the priests based in Kedarnath demanded a blanket ban on the Sushant Singh Rajput starrer, claiming that the film promotes love jihad. Now, Kedar Sabha, the organisation of the priests, has sent a written plea to the makers — producer Ronnie Screwvala and director Abhishek Kapoor — urging them to rechristen the love story.

Set against the 2013 Uttarakhand floods, the film is a romance saga between an upper-class Hindu pilgrim (played by Khan) and a Muslim porter (essayed by Rajput). Wary of the love track, the priests' body has also urged the team to arrange a special screening for them before its release, thus allowing them to ensure that it doesn't hurt religious sentiments.

N P Jamloki, executive officer of Kedar Sabha, said, "We had no idea about the film's plot before we saw the trailer. Some of the scenes in the promo are objectionable." Among the scenes in contention is a kissing sequence between the leads. That the drama sees a romance blossoming between the two youngsters belonging to different religions in the holy town, hasn't gone down well with them.

"It's disappointing to see the film bearing the name of a religious place with a story that could be hurtful to the community. We request the makers to change the title so as to not mislead the audience about the sanctity of the shrine. We would prefer if they show the film to the temple committee." Point out to him that it's a fictional account, and Jamloki asserts, "Fiction can't be so far-fetched. The story raises questions on the social dynamics of the place." Screwvala remained unavailable for comment till the time of going to press.