Padmaavat To Jodha Akbar: Bollywood Films That Faced Karni Sena's Opposition

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New Delhi: Karni Sena National president Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi was killed in broad daylight by unknown gunmen today in Rajasthan’s Jaipur. According to reports, unidentified intruders fired at Gogamedi and his gunman Narendra at his house. Karni Sena has always been in the news for various controversies. 

In the tumultuous world of Bollywood, one name has consistently echoed through the corridors of controversy - Karni Sena. This socio-cultural organization, known for its vehement protests, has repeatedly thrust itself into the limelight by vehemently opposing various Bollywood releases. 

Here are some of the Bollywood movies that faced severe protests by Karni Sena: 

Padmaavat

The Karni Sena said that Bhansali's "Padmavati" depicted a Rajput queen in an unfavourable way, which sparked significant controversy in 2017. During filming, Bhansali was attacked and the movie's sets were vandalised. Actress Deepika Padukone was once threatened with death and had a bounty placed on her head due to a rumour that the movie featured a romantic scene involving Padmavati and Allauddin Khilji. The director worked hard to refute the rumour. The movie was retitled "Padmaavat" and eventually released in January 2018.

Tandav

Chief of the Maharashtra Karni Sena, Ajay Sengar, took issue with the web series Tandav on Amazon Prime. Sengar stated that a reward of Rs. 1 crore would be given to anyone who would cut the tongue of someone insulting Hindu gods. The scene in the middle of the row featured Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub portraying the Hindu god Mahadev in a theatre production while he was a college student named Shiva.

Laxmii

Karni Sena served a legal notice to the film's producers. The Sena stated in their announcement that the movie's title is "derogatory and offensive" to Goddess Laxmi and that it is giving the public the "wrong message" about the "ideology, customs, gods, and goddesses of Hindu religion." Even more, the Hindu Sena demanded in a letter to Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, that the film's production team face the appropriate consequences. As a result, Laxmmi Bomb had to be changed to Laxmii by the creators.

Manikarnika

Karni Sena protests against Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika
Because they thought Kangana Ranaut's Manikarnika depicted a romance between Laxmibai and a British officer, the Karni Sena was likewise offended by the movie. They further asserted that it was against their tradition for the queen to be seen dancing in the movie to a particular song.

Jodha Akbar

The group gained notoriety in 2008 after staging a protest against Ashutosh Gowarikar's Jodha Akbar. Because of how widespread the protests had become, no theatre would agree to screen the movie, and Jodha Akbar was eventually not released in Rajasthan. The group had claimed that Jodha was not Akbar's wife and that there was "blatant distortion of history" in the movie.

Veer

Amidst the release of Veer, Salman Khan posters were set ablaze by Karni Sena activists in Udaipur. They said that some of the movie's scenes denigrated their community. They even caused damage to a few theatres that were showing the movie.