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Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, whose film Manmarziyaan has reportedly upset some Sikhs, says the Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu and Vicky Kaushal-starrer is a story of three persons and not Sikhism. He is sorry though the intention was not to hurt the community.
According to a report, members of the Sikh community in Ambala expressed displeasure over a scene in Manmarziyaan in which Abhishek and Taapsee, who play a Sikh couple, have been shown smoking.
In response, Kashyap tweeted on Wednesday: “‘Manmarziyaan’ is a story of three individuals and not their religion. I am sorry if anyone feels genuinely hurt, but I would also request that please don’t make this unnecessary political because it’s not.”
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“I have always put out things the way they are without an agenda. Technology does not allow us to cut a scene and it affects the storytelling. So, I definitely cannot do that now. To those whose hurt is genuine, I offer a genuine apology, that wasn’t my intention.
“And for those who are doing it for attention, I am glad you have got the attention.”
To everyone’s surprise few moments earlier Anurag Kashyap shared the contact details of Kishore Lulla, Managing Director of Eros International.
The filmmaker is out of India, and he came across the report about certain Sikhs feeling offended by the smoking scene.
He clarified: “This film is not commenting on a community, it talks about individuals and their choices. Every step of the way, we asked for guidance from Sikh people for the film. When we shot the sequence in Gurudwara, we were told we can’t shoot them getting married as it can’t be faked. So we made the actors do only ‘mattha tekna’.”
The “No Smoking” director said when the team was shooting scenes, no crew member was allowed to smoke inside the houses.