Sanjay Leela Bhansali has been surrounded with controversies and more controversies from the time he started his ambitious project Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela.
Here is a complete update on this:
Casting: Sanjay always wanted Kareena Kapoor to be his Leela, but then Kareena walked out of the film, as there were some money issues. Post that Priyanka Chopra was supposed to do the film but then there were date issues and finally Sanjay zeroed it down to Deepika Padukone. And as they say the rest is history!
Title: There has been issues with the title from the word go. Sanjay never wanted to change the title because of emotional reasons as the film carries his mother’s name Leela. Sanjay was stuck with his conviction, fought the legal battle and won it because the full name of the film was Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela.
Legal: The drama began just a week before the film was supposed to hit the silver screen. Not only did people protest saying that the film is hurting their religious sentiments, they also went ahead and said that Sanjay has maligned Lord Ram. In the film, Ranveer whose screen name is Ram, is involved in ‘drug peddling’ as well as ‘sexually very active’.
Leaders of the Kshatriya community in Bhavnagar, who have been protesting against the movie, said they would not allow the release of the movie.
“We reject Bhansali’s apology. We also object to the portrayal of the lead female character in the movie,” said Vanrajsinh Gohil, who is the vice-president of Gohilwad Rajput Samaj, an association of the Kshatriya community in Bhavnagar.
If this was not enough, The Bombay High Court on Monday, November 18, 2013 directed the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to file an affidavit clarifying if all the guidelines were followed while issuing a certificate to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela. The court was hearing a petition seeking a ban on the usage of the word ‘Ram’ in the film’s title, which allegedly hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindus.
The petition claimed that the CBFC had failed to adhere to the guidelines given in Section 5B of the Cinematograph Act, 1952, while clearing the film.
According to the petition, “Ranveer Singh who essays the role of Ram is shown as a womaniser, having all the bad habits, doing all illegal things, such as conducting a video theatre with porn movies, which is in fact a character assassination of Lord Rama which seriously hurts my belief in Lord Rama and his ideals.” The petition has been filed against the CBFC, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra and Eros International.
A local court has directed to lodge a case against the director and starcast of the film, following a petition that the movie glorified violence and obscenity.
All said and done, Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela is doing good business at the Box Office!
