Shah Rukh Khan calls Assam CM about Pathaan release, gets security assurance - Hindustan Times
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Shah Rukh Khan calls Assam CM about Pathaan release, gets security assurance

ByBiswa Kalyan Purkayastha
Jan 22, 2023 03:52 PM IST

The matter relates to protests in Assam by Bajrang Dal activists, who on Friday stormed a theatre in Guwahati’s Narengi to protest against the film scheduled to release next week.

Hours after Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s “Who is Shah Rukh Khan” remark, the Bollywood actor called him and expressed concern about an incident of violence in a cinema hall in the state ahead of the release of his movie Pathaan.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in a Tweet informed that Shah Rukh Khan called him at 2am on Sunday (PTI)
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in a Tweet informed that Shah Rukh Khan called him at 2am on Sunday (PTI)

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Watch: Assam CM goes from 'Who is SRK' to 'Shri Shah Rukh' in hours I 'Pathaan' Screening

On Sunday morning, the chief minister in a Tweet informed that Khan called him at 2am and expressed his concern about the recent violence in the cinema hall in the state.

“Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan called me and we talked this morning at 2am. He expressed concern about an incident in Guwahati during the screening of his film,” Sarma wrote on Twitter.

“I assured him (Shah Rukh Khan) that it is the duty of the state govt to maintain law & order. We’ll enquire and ensure no such untoward incidents happen,” Sarma added.

Also Read: Congress stings Assam CM over Shah Rukh’s phone call: ‘People who became Sanghis…’

On Saturday, reacting to alleged protests by a rightwing outfit in Assam against the release of Pathaan, Biswa Sarma said he doesn’t know who Shah Rukh Khan is and he is not aware of the movie ‘Pathaan’.

The matter relates to protests in Assam by Bajrang Dal activists, who on Friday stormed a theatre in Guwahati’s Narengi to protest against the film scheduled to release next week.

They tore down and burnt the film’s posters and shared videos on social media with a ‘boycott message’ of the movie.

The incident raised security concerns for multiplex and cinema hall owners in Assam and also a few other states where activists of Hindu right-wing groups, including Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad, have called for the boycotting of the film.

Amid the outrage, some cinema hall owners in Assam expressed fear of vandalism and said that they are not sure if they can screen the movie.

In Gujarat, the VHP on Friday threatened to stall the screening unless the film is shown to Hindu religious leaders and they allow it to be released.

Also Read: VHP threatens to stall Pathaan in Gujarat unless Hindu leaders approve it

Earlier this month, Bajrang Dal’s Gujarat unit tweeted videos of a “protest” against Pathaan and destroyed the posters of the movie at a mall in Ahmedabad.

The movie stirred controversy among certain groups since the release of the film’s song Besharam Rang in which the actress Deepika Padukone is dressed in a saffron bikini.

Pathaan starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham, directed by Siddharth Anand, will hit the theatres on January 25, 2023.

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