As Rohit Shetty’s cop drama Sooryavanshi garners rave reviews, many are calling out the Islamophobic undertones of the movie.
While Sooryavanshi garnered rave reviews, some are criticizing the film for portraying Muslims as the bad guys.
It’s safe to say the film is a blockbuster, with ratings making this the filmmaker’s third highest-rated movie on IMDb. However, can we safely say that movie isn’t Islamophobic?
The Golmaal director addressed the controversy in an interview with The Quint. Rohit Shetty said the movie presented Muslims in both a good as well as in a bad light.
“If I ask you one question, Jaikant Shikre (in Singham) was a Hindu Marathi. Then a second film came where a Hindu godman was there. Then in Simmba, Durva Ranade was a Maharashtrian again. In these three, negative forces were Hindu, why isn’t that a problem?”
He further added how he doesn’t think in terms of ‘good Muslim or bad Muslim’. He just sees characters.
“If there is a terrorist who is from Pakistan, what caste will he be? It changed my point of view of a few journalists whom I used to like. That oh, they are portraying it like I have seen in brackets somebody writing bad Muslims being preached by upper-caste Hindus, which is very wrong. We never thought that way.”
Nobody raised a question when they showed a Hindu villain. Infact, liberals and journalists were okay with the same. Then why a mooslim terrorist is problematic now? 😭Sahi dhoya Rohit Shetty 🤣#Sooryavanashi pic.twitter.com/Z8iszngmiB
— Amit Kumar (@AMIT_GUJJU) November 14, 2021
The filmmaker added that if the portrayal would have been wrong, everyone would have objected but only a small segment did.
“If they are objecting, it is them who need to change the perspective and not us.”
There was a lot of hearsay about the movie online. From people saying having Muslim writers doesn’t mean the film isn’t Islamophobic.
"They beheaded my father, raped my sister in front me when I was 5 year old. Kicked us out of our own home & country in 1947"
– Lashkar Chief(@bindasbhidu) explains how he became terrorist#Sooryavanashi by @akshaykumar & Rohit Shetty blames H for partition & starting terrorism
— Gems of Bollywood बॉलीवुड के रत्न (@GemsOfBollywood) November 9, 2021
Bilal Ahmed is notorious terrorist
But
1 He became terrorist ONLY because his family was burnt to death for communal reasons
2 He got tracked ONLY because Allah helped a sachcha Muslim police officer see Bilal while doing Ibadat!#sooryavanshi by @akshaykumar and Rohit Shetty— Gems of Bollywood बॉलीवुड के रत्न (@GemsOfBollywood) November 9, 2021
Do you think the director has a point? Or is Islamophobia too blatant? Let us know in the comments below.
