For the past couple of days, the new song from the upcoming movie Pathaan, titled ‘Besharam Rang’, has been making headlines and most of them are not so positive. The song featuring Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh Khan has Deepika’s character gyrating to the music in skimpy clothes in an attempt to seduce Shah Rukh Khan’s character. To maintain gender equality, Shah Rukh Khan also goes bare-chested in the video.
We don’t know if Deepika manages to seduce SRK in the movie or not, but it has definitely not seduced too many viewers. Most people online have termed it a cheap, vulgar attempt to promote the film by trying to attract viewers with the half-naked female lead.
Viewers disliking the video is one thing, but strangely, the video is starting to attract much more extreme reactions from some corners. In one of the scenes from the video, Deepika can be seen wearing a saffron bikini, and some people have interpreted that the ‘Besharam Rang’ in the lyrics refers to saffron, a colour long affiliated with Hinduism.
Even though Deepika has worn bikinis, swimwear etc of several colours in the video, that saffron colour is the one that has now drawn a lot of outrage. In fact, Shah Rukh Khan’s posters were burnt in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore for disrespecting the saffron colour in this video.
मध्य प्रदेश के इंदौर में जलाया गया शाहरुख़ खान का पुतला।
— Sagar Kumar “Sudarshan News” (@KumaarSaagar) December 15, 2022
पठान फ़िल्म में भगवे रंग का किया गया है अपमान। pic.twitter.com/8HF95rvBb5
It is not only the people of Madhya Pradesh that are outraged over this song, their politicians have been leading the campaign against it. Home Minister Narottam Mishra expressed objection to actress Deepika Padukone’s attire in the song as well. The minister has advised the director to correct the attire, failing which the film may face troubles during its release in Madhya Pradesh. He also called Padukone a member of the ‘Tukde Tukde Gang’, a term that refers to left liberals wishing to separate Kashmir and other parts from India.
Another BJP leader from the state, Indore MLA Ramesh Mandola said that instead of watching Shah Rukh Khan starrer Pathaan, it is better to use that money to feed the poor.
Whenever there is an outrage in India, legal cases follow, and it is no different this time around either. Once the outrage against ‘Besharam Rang’ went mainstream, Supreme Court Advocate Vineet Jindal has already filed a complaint at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting against actor Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone over the song.
In his complaint, Jindal said that the song is “vulgar and obscene” and “against Hindu sentiments”. He argued that Deepika was seen wearing a saffron bikini and sarong with Shah Rukh Khan while performing in the song.
While the video of the song is extremely crass and vulgar, and is very openly trying to cash in on a young woman’s skin to promote the film, the protests against it are utterly bizarre.
If Deepika Padukone, and the film’s makers think the best way to promote a film is by trying to engage the male gaze, and exposing skin, then it is their prerogative. Maybe they don’t have any faith in the story and screenplay so they are trying cheap, vulgar ways to attract the audience, but again, it is their call.
Our politicians should have better issues to focus on, a cheap raunchy song is not worth the public’s time, much less elected public respresentatives’ time. Filing legal cases over such cheap issues clog our already over-burdened judicial system, and thanks to the publicity such cases generate, they even get a hearing much before other cases from ordinary citizens.
It is a terrible video, and that is all there is to it, if this is the best that Pathaan has to offer, it will be a flop anyway. Our elected representatives and judicial system should not be spending any time over it.
