Jaat Row: Director Gopichand Malineni Reacts To Randeep Hooda's Now-Deleted Church Scene, Says 'No Filmmaker Wants To Hurt'
Jaat, starring Sunny Deol, was released on April 10; however, the film faced backlash after members of the Christian community protested, demanding a ban for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. The outrage was sparked by a controversial scene featuring Randeep Hooda, where he is seen standing at the front of a church, directly beneath a crucifix, with his arms outstretched in a pose that closely resembles the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Now, Jaat director Gopichand Malineni has addressed the backlash, stating that no filmmaker ever intends to hurt people. In an interview with Mid-Day, he said that the censor board initially raised no concerns regarding the controversial scene for the trailer cut. However, later, they asked the makers to blur the background in the film print— a change that was implemented even before any public objections were raised.
"If a film has to be a blockbuster, it has to be watched by as many people as possible. No filmmaker wants to hurt any people or community. We want to entertain them," added the director.
On Friday, an FIR was registered with the Jalandhar police against the actors, Gopichand, and the film's producers under Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Following this, the makers issued an apology and announced the removal of the controversial scene from the film after facing backlash from the Christian community.
The statement read, "There has been a backlash for a specific scene in the film. The scene has been removed from the film with immediate effect. Our intention was not to hurt any religious sentiments. We deeply regret it and have taken a quick action of deleting the scene from the film. We sincerely apologise to everyone whose beliefs have been hurt."
Jaat also stars Vineet Kumar Singh, Saiyami Kher, Regina Cassandra, Ayesha Khan, Urvashi Rautela and others in key roles..
news