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The year 2023 has been a year of controversies for Hindi films in particular. A new controversy seemed to be just a new release away. Right from celebs landing into controversies to their films being called out, the year has seen it all. While films like Pathaan were accused of copying scenes from many Hollywood flicks, upcoming films like Fighter were said to be modeled on Tom Cruise films.
Even Kalki 2898 AD’s first look was said to be a copy of the Hollywood film Dune. Not only this, this year’s biggest controversy was the tampering of box office numbers and corporate and bulk bookings.
Shah Rukh Khan was accused of releasing fake box office numbers for his films Pathaan and Jawan. After Dunki Vs Salaar, even Prabhas’ film was accused of doing the same. However, there were some films that landed into controversies that never got out of them.
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Here are ten films of 2023 that landed in controversies owing to their subject or scenes.
1. OMG 2 – 27 Censor Cuts
Pankaj Tripathi and Akshay Kumar‘s film, which dealt with s*x education in India, had to go through a brutal censor slaughter, and still, the film received an adult certificate. The cuts included Akshay Kumar’s character as Lord Shiva, frontal n*dity scenes, and more. Akshay Kumar later asked during a media interaction – “Do you think it was an adult film?”
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2. Adipurush – Crass Dialogues
Om Raut’s Adipurush had to face a lot of flak due to the misrepresentation of Indian Gods and Goddesses and tampering with the Hindu epic Ramayana. People objected to Lord Hanuman mouthing dialogues like, “Tel Tera, Lanka Tere Baap Ki to Jalegibhi tere baap ki.” The writer of the film, Manoj Muntashir, tried to come to the defense only to make things worse. All settled down once he profusely apologized, and the film was released with changed dialogues.
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3. Pathaan – Besharam Rang Bikini
Deepika Padukone wore a ‘Kesariya’ Bikini in Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan, and all hell broke loose. Her saffron bikini became a reason to call for a boycott of the film as it hurt Hindu sentiments!
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4. Animal – Parameter For Violence?
Sandeep Reddy Vanga was agitated when Kabir Singh was called a violent film, and he promised he’d show what violence is. Well, he delivered what he promised with Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal, leaving everyone shocked at two things – How much violence on-screen is okay, and how was the censor board okay with such a level of violence? The film opened a debate yet again about treating women in a film and whether the celebration of toxic masculinity should be endorsed.
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5. The Kerala Story – A Propaganda
The film that was clearly called the ‘agenda’ film force-feeding a certain thought process. The film was set in Kerala, where a naive girl is pushed to convert to Islam, which would eventually lead her to become a terrorist and join ISIS. The film claimed that thousands of girls are going through this conversion. The manipulation in numbers irked the common people, and the film was called out. To date, the film has no OTT buyers.
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6. Oppenheimer’s Bhagvad Gita
Oppenheimer had a s*x scene where he was seen reciting the Bhagavad Gita while making love to Florence Pugh. However, before any big controversy could hit the film, it was suggested that it should be edited, but the censor board passed the film, taking chances, and all hell broke loose. The angst was inevitable.
Hindus have been celebrating the mention of the Bhagwad Gita in the Oppenheimer movie, but they are left angry and perplexed at the blatant disrespect of the Gita by Hollywood.
Mentioning holy verses while having sex is considered disrespectful and racist. #BoycottOpenheimer pic.twitter.com/Gvgi5Brsx4
— Harris Sultan (@TheHarrisSultan) July 21, 2023
7. Barbie’s ‘Adult’ Plot
Barbie was not for kids, and some Indians could not process the thought. Celebs took their kids to the Margot Robbie film, which came out disappointed. Actress Juhi Parmar was a concerned parent who took her kid to a PG-13 movie and then ranted against it. She also owned up to her mistake but reasoned that the language of the film is not appropriate for even a 13-year-old.
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8. Tiku Weds Sheru’s Awkward Kiss
Produced by Kangana Ranaut, the film had a kissing scene between the protagonists Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Avneet Kaur. While people called out the scene and tagged the film as awkward and disgusting, producer Kangana Ranaut called it a smear campaign and blamed Karan Johar for it! She wrote, “Movie mafia doing everything to harm my film, fake reviews, and smear campaigns started even before its release. Anyway, it’s streaming now. Please watch it for yourself or only ask your friends or people you know about the reviews of the film if they saw it before you. Don’t go by paid fake trends or reviews.”
Meanwhile, Avneet Kaur shared that she got the promising actor award for Tiku Weds Sheru!
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9. Dharmendra & Shabana Azmi’s Kiss
Dharmendra and Shabana Azmi kissed! It was the talk of the town for months and was discussed. Everyone from the Deol family had a reaction to it. Meanwhile, Karan Johar revealed that the two veterans were totally okay with it, and there was no fuss or awkwardness while shooting it! It is a good controversy, nonetheless. People fell in love with the film. Here’s a beautiful clip from the film shared by a fan on Instagram.
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10. Gadar 2’s Motormouth – Ameesha Patel
While promoting Gadar 2, Ameesha Patel was an untamed species who said all the weirdest things in the world – right from Kareena Kapoor Khan being removed from Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai to taking shots at Utkarsh Sharma for not getting roles in the industry.
Here’s a promotional clip the actress shared on her Instagram account.
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Well, quite a buzzing year this was. We hope 2024 focuses more on appreciating films rather than dissecting them, if and only if there are more good films to appreciate.
Stay tuned to Koimoi for more stories on entertainment.
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