Ajay Devgn to meet Sikh community over `Son of Sardaar`

Amritsar: After several allegations that his upcoming film `Son of Sardaar` hurts religious sentiments, actor-producer Ajay Devgn is all set to meet members of the Sikh community here and show them the film.

The 43-year-old actor would be coming down to Amritsar tomorrow with his friend, Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, to meet SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee) officials, Sikh lawyers and members of All India Sikh Student Federation (AISSF). The film would be screened during the meeting in Amritsar. On August 27, Karnail Singh, President of All India Sikh Student Federation (AISSF), in a letter to Jathedar Akal Takht Giani Gurbachan Singh had requested stern action against Ajay for blasphemous remarks against the community as shown in the film`s trailer. It was alleged that the official trailer, released on YouTube, shows the character of a Sikh in a bad light and contains demeaning dialogues like "If Sikhs were not there then who would have invented abuses..." and "Without Sardaars, on whom would have jokes been made". Lead actor Ajay is shown as a turban wearing Sardar with the tattoo of Hindu Lord Shiva on his chest, which has also been termed as anti-Sikh. Punjab and Haryana High Court Advocate Navkiran Singh in this regard had issued a legal notice to the makers of the film on August 16 asking them to delete the objectionable parts within 7 days of receipt of the legal notice. However, the producer and actor Ajay did not respond to the notice. The film is directed by Ashwini Dhir and stars Sonakshi Sinha, Sanjay Dutt and Juhi Chawla. Ajay had even issued a statement few days back that the film `Son of Sardaar` does not hurt anybody`s sentiments and that he has a lot of respect for the community and culture. "At no point anybody will find any element of disrespect. The protagonist of the film is a Sardaar, so the film will showcase a very positive projection of the community. One could just wait for the release and then come up with their comments and opinion," Ajay had said. PTI