PK and its controversies

According to a PTI report, the Delhi High Court issued notice to the producers and directors of PK on January 21, 2015, on a novelist's plea accusing the makers of the movie of plagiarising certain portions from his Hindi book Farishta published in 2013. Justice Najmi Waziri asked Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Raj Kumar Hirani, and scriptwriter Abhijat Joshi to appear before joint registrar of the high court on April 16 for recording of evidence in this regard, the report stated. Reportedly, the court's notice came on a plea by Kapil Isapuri alleging that Chopra and Hirani, directors of the film, their production companies and scriptwriter Joshi have "stolen the characters, expression of ideas, scenes (sequences) from the novel," the report furthyer stated. He sought punitive damages of rupees one crore from the makers along with credit for his work, the PTI report concluded.

We take a look at controversies that the film has courted since its release on December 19.

According to a PTI report, in the wake of the row created around Aamir Khan starrer PK, the Delhi High Court has hit out at growing instances of religious intolerance. Dismissing a PIL against the film, a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw said that the present petition is an instance of a growing tendency in the country of intolerance and which tendency has to be nipped in the bud and unless done so, is likely to spread like wild fire and which the country can ill-afford, the report stated. The bench also observed that the Constitution protects the right of an artist to portray social reality in all its forms, and seeing a film is a conscious choice of the spectator. Those offended by the content or the theme of a particular film were free to avoid watching it, the report concluded.

According to a statement issued by Aamir Khan, the actor was in for a shock recently when he read some websites carrying a fake interview credited to him, with reference to his latest film PK. The interview carried by Pakistani websites in the name of religion and Islam was a fabricated one and published with the intent to impersonate him.‎ As soon as Aamir got to know about this, his legal team took swift action and sent notices to all the websites. Anand Desai, Managing Partner of DSK Legal shares, "Mr. Aamir Khan was shocked to find an interview attributed to him on several websites on the internet in relation to his latest film PK. He has never given such an interview. It is clearly a fabrication by someone trying to impersonate him, done with the intent of drawing visitors to their website, and is defamatory to our client. An attempt to impersonate our client is a very serious matter and we intend to take it to its logical end. Today we sent legal notices on behalf of Mr. Khan to the following, in which we have stated that the publication of the fake interview amounts to offences of impersonation, defamation and under the Information Technology Act, 2000."

According to a report, rubbishing allegations that the Aamir Khan-starrer PK is offensive, the Delhi high court dismissed a petition seeking a ban on it on the ground that it defames Hindu culture and religious practices. A bench comprising Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw said that there was nothing wrong in the movie, the report stated. It said a detailed order will be passed later on the petition. "What is wrong in the movie? You cannot take offence at everything. We do not find any substance in the allegations made in the petition. We will pass an order on merits," the bench said, states the report. The court was hearing a PIL filed by Ajay Gautam seeking directions to delete "objectionable" scenes from PK claiming that the content of the film has hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus.

According to a report in IANS, The Delhi High Court Wednesday dismissed a PIL filed against Raj Kumar Hirani directed and Aamir Khan starrer film PK, saying, "the film was not offensive." A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw refused to entertain the plea which sought ban on the film for alleged derogatory remarks against Hindu gods, Hindu beliefs, faith and worship in the movie. The bench said: "What was wrong in the movie? We don't find anything offensive in it. We don't find any substance in the plea." The court said it will pass a detailed order on the plea later. The PIL, filed by Gautam, argued that the film made mockery of Hindu god and Lord Shiva was shown in bad light. "The Hindu way of worship has also been criticised in a most unwarranted manner," he alleged.

We take a look at other controversies that the film has courted since its release on December 19.

According to a report on IANS, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) member, Satish Kalyankar, claimed to have objected to some of the scenes of the Aamir Khan-starrer PK ahead of the film’s release but they were ignored. Some members of the Censor Board visited the ashram of Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati of Dwarakpeeth who has sought the Rajkumar Hirani directed film PK should be banned for having hurt sentiments of some in the Hindu community. Talking to reporters, Kalyankar said he had sought a meeting to register his objection before the censor board CEO, failing which he conveyed his concerns in writing to him. But the scenes were not deleted. Kalyankar, also a member of the film screening committee, said that the film certainly violates the already laid rules, one of which requires that a film should not contain such scenes or dialogues that hurt any community’s religious sentiments.

According to a PTI report, Akhilesh Yadav's office had issued a statement clarifying that PK had been downloaded from an authorised site, in what seemed to be a move to salvage the situation. Akhilesh's confession that he had downloaded the film and watched before making it tax-free, had caused much embarrassment to the Chief Minister of UP. Sanjay Sharma, Founder of TAHRIR (Transparency, Accountability and Human Rights Initiative for Revolution) had also moved an application with the Hazratganj Police on January 2 for lodging an FIR against Yadav for the offence of downloading the film from a website and watching a pirated copy of the film. The statement issued, claims, "The screening of PK was done on Club X media server installed at Akhilesh Yadav's residence. The Club X service enables authorised private screenings of movies at Club X licensed auditorium of its members. Movies can be screened from the date of their theatrical release in India. Movies are delivered to the Club X media servers over a captive satellite network or are physically delivered and are stored in a digitally encrypted form. A licence is required to playback the movie each time and is issued based upon the authorisation received from the content owners."

According to a report on Newsnation.com, Sanjay Sharma, Founder of TAHRIR (Transparency, Accountability and Human Rights Initiative for Revolution) has moved an application with the Hazratganj Police today requesting it to lodge an FIR under Section 154 of the CrPC against Yadav for the offence of downloading PK from a website and watching a pirated copy of the film. In an interview explaining his reasons for making PK a tax-free film in the state of UP, Akhilesh had said, "People had been telling me for many days to watch PK. I downloaded it a few days ago, but only found the time to watch it last night. I liked it immediately and decided to make it tax-free so that more people can watch it."

According to a PTI report, a case has been registered against the director, producer and actor of PK at the Bajaj Nagar police station, said the police. A case under section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) of the IPC was lodged against director, producer and actor of the film, SHO Bajaj Nagar Chiranji Lal said, the report states. The three were not named in the FIR filed by Basant Gehlot, adds the report. The Aamir Khan-starrer film has invited sharp reactions and protest from right-wing Hindu outfits who have demanded a ban on the screening of the film, alleging that it hurts the religious sentiments, concludes the report.

According to a report on Zeenews.india.com, after questioning the financing of PK, Subramanian Swamy has apparently said that “a complaint will go soon to initiate action under PMLA on Aamir Khan & co for laundering terrorist finance.” Swamy had tweeted on Monday (December 29, 2014), “Who financed the 'PK' film? According to my sources it is traceable to Dubai and ISI. DRI must investigate.” [sic] Though Aamir Khan's film is impressing with its box office collections, it is making headlines over its content too, inviting protests from religious groups against the screening of the film.

Aamir Khan's PK has invited the ire of yoga guru Baba Ramdev who has called for a social boycott of those involved in the making of the film, on December 28, as it has criticised Hindu gods and goddesses, reports economictimes.indiatimes.com. Ramdev, who was in Mumbai to condone the death of the mother of one of his followers, Sudhakar Shetty, slammed those making such movies that according to him "denigrated" the Hindu "culture and religion," the report further states. "People think a 100 times while talking against Islam. However, when it comes to Hinduism any one gets up and says anything, this is shameful," the report quoted Ramdev.

According to a PTI report, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has said that Aamir Khan's movie PK has several scenes that hurt religious sentiments of Hindus. Reportedly VHP has written to the information and broadcasting ministry demanding a curb on such movies and 'changing the character of the censor board'. "It is requested that such films are stopped and character of institutions like censor board, which approve such movies, is corrected," read the letter, reports PTI. On the contrary, senior BJP leader LK Advani has hailed the movie as a "wonderful and courageous film".

PK has been embroiled in controversies more than one. One of them were reports of Aamir Khan and team offering Rs 8 crore to stall the shooting of OMG: Oh My God as its plot was similar to PK. The film's director Umesh Shukla has apparently spoken about the same. A report on india-forums.com says that Umesh Shukla’s recent statement to a national daily has made it clear that the team of PK is being unnecessarily dragged into a controversy. The report quotes Umesh as saying, “I don’t know from where such baseless rumours have come up. This is nonsense. These (Aamir, Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra) are good people and they can never do such a thing.” The director opines that the creativity of PK shouldn't be challenged and unnecessarily made a big deal about, the report concluded.

According to a DNA report (dated December 22, 2014), when Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra got to know that the storyline of Umesh Shukla's OMG: Oh My God was similar to PK, they along with Aamir had approached Umesh to have a discussion. The report further quoted a source saying that OMG: Oh My God was still being shot when Aamir, Rajkumar and Vidhu offered Rs 8 crore to Umesh to stop shooting the film. However according to a report, Aamir denied saying, "There are 100 films of the same theme. It doesn't mean we are copying. And reports stating we tried paying off Umesh Shukla for stalling OMG: Oh My God are all lies."

Aamir Khan is known for being very selective about the films he acts in and all his films manage to receive great response from the audience. He makes sure his films create headlines, and this year's Christmas release PK is no different. Although the film opened to impressive collections at the box-office, PK is also in news for other reasons. It seems Aamir has rubbed some sections of the society in a wrong way and PK is being embroiled in controversies more than one. We take a brief look...

FIR for hurting religious sentiments: Certain sections of the society are blaming the makers of the film for being insensitive towards religion and portraying it in a wrong way. Social media is abuzz with mixed reactions from the audiences. The hashtag #BoycottPK was also trending on Twitter as people expressed displeasure over hurting their religious sentiments. According to a report on indiatoday.intoday.in, an FIR has been lodged against the film under sections 153A and 295A of the Indian Penal Code.

Portraying Lord Shiva in a bad light?: According to a report on indiatoday.intoday.in, the secretary of Hindu Legal Cell, Prashant Patel, has apparently lodged an FIR against director Rajkumar Hirani, Aamir Khan, producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Sidharth Roy Kapur. Reportedly, he thinks that Lord Shiva has been portrayed in a bad light in PK. Further allegations include comments on Hindu rituals, that hurt the sentiments of believers. The report states that the FIR has a mention of the film's dialogue, 'Jo darta hai vo hi mandir jaata hai.'

Promoting love-jihad?: Offended Twitteratis even went to the extent of slamming the film PK for hurting their religious sentiments and promoting love-jihad. In his defense, while speaking to DNA, Aamir said that the crew of PK consisted of a majority of Hindus and none of them felt offended. He was quoted saying that in a democracy, everyone has their opinions and he respects everyone's viewpoints, feelings and opinions. He also clarified that utmost care has been taken in telling the story in a sensitive manner. While speaking to businessofcinema.com, he said, "The message of this film is that the biggest thing is humanity. That’s the biggest message of this film... that we all are equal. There is no difference between Hindus and Muslims... that trust and faith are the important aspects of our life. This is the message." [sic]

Aamir posing nude for the poster: Aamir Khan went nude for the film's first poster covering his modesty with a transistor. The makers of the film were then booked under charges of obscenity. However, the supreme court dismissed the PIL which sought a ban on the exhibition of the film's posters saying, "If you don't like then don't watch the film but don't bring religious facets in it. These are matters of art and entertainment and let them remain so."

Raju Hirani clarifies: Director Rajkumar Hirani came forward to clear his stance. In an interview to DNA, he said, "We have not done anything for which people can tell we have deliberately hurt anyone's religious sentiments. The core idea of the film is just that we are not born with a birthmark proclaiming we are Hindus or Muslims or Sikhs or Christians. It is just that like a baby is born without any per-conceived notions and is made to follow a certain lifestyle and perform certain rituals, we decided to have Aamir as an alien which meant he too did not have any idea or notions about what religion is here on Earth. A newborn baby is taught to follow certain rules and act according to one's religious traditions. When they grow up and have their own set of ideologies, they think their ways or methods are right and others are wrong. To a Hindu, some ritual might be done in a certain manner or something might be considered sacred. But for Muslims, it might be something else. That is what we tried to portray that our ways are different, not by choice, but our faith remains the same."[sic]