Frivolous Boycott Of Films Like Pathaan Hamper Freedom Of Speech

We need to bid adieu to the boycott brigade!
Frivolous Boycott Of Films Like Pathaan Hamper Freedom Of Speech

I’m sure most of y’all woke up thinking “It’s Pathaan day” before heading out to watch the film. And many of you even have plans to watch it later in the day or over the weekend. The release of Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham starrer has quite literally taken care of our mid-week blues. The honest truth is that all of us love watching films for some fun escapism. Despite our love for films, there’s a whole Boycott brigade that exists and continues to drive boycott movements against films for various reasons. And it’s high time we call out how this toxic trend and the censorship of films is a grave violation of the freedom of speech enshrined in our Indian Constitution.

Over the past few years, we’ve been witnessing a rise in the boycott movement and there seems to be no end to it. All of the boycott brigade finds some communal angle or something problematic with every single movie one way or another. And if they have nothing to go on, they simply boycott the lead actors of the film for something they did or said in the past. Apart from this, there are several political leaders or religious leaders who find a way to censor a film over something they find to be problematic. While I understand the importance of censoring films to make them suitable for audiences but in 2023, the kind of censoring we’re doing is a borderline violation of freedom of speech.

Also Read: From ‘XXX’ To ‘Pathaan,’ We Love Deepika Padukone As A Fierce Fashionista In Her Action Films

Let’s think about it, freedom of speech is all about having the right to express ourselves, our thoughts, opinions, views and ideas without having to worry about any kind of legal sanction or retaliation but that’s where censorship comes in. Censorship quite literally means suppressing speech. While censorship in films is usually done in order to remove anything that may come across as objectionable or sensitive or harmful or that may hurt the sentiments of a certain section of society. Come to think of it, the boycott brigade has been using “hurting religious sentiments” as an excuse to suppress creative freedom or something as simple as a woman’s choice of clothing.

Also Read: Pathaan Review: The Sexy Blockbuster That Was Promised To Our Shah Rukh Khan-Starved Hearts

NGL but Deepika Padukone’s orange bikini in Pathaan song ‘Besharam Rang’ seems to have offended far too many people even though the actress wore the outfit for barely 30 seconds. And to make things worse, there have been protests against the film over some scenes and the “saffron” bikini worn by the actress but how is it that the choice of someone’s clothing has managed to offend so many people? Since when have colours become symbols of religions?

From where I see this, this is just a frivolous excuse to boycott a film. And sadly, no matter how much we talk about it, this boycott brigade isn’t going anywhere. They’ll continue “banning” and boycotting films for the lamest reasons. TBH, it’s time we acknowledged that the boycott brigade is just another tool used to curb or rather violate our creative freedom and the freedom of speech and expression.

Twitter’s Verdict On Pathaan Is Here. Shah Rukh Khan Is Ruling The Theatres Already!

Janvi Manchanda

​​She uses her pen to slice through patriarchy. She could be Geet one day, Wednesday Addams next. Writing is the bane of her existence and the object of all her desires!

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