Parched director Leena Yadav gets death threats

Gujarat’s Rabari community has accused Yadav of insulting them.

Filmmaker Leena Yadav has been getting death threats from Gujarat’s Rabari community. They have accused her of portraying them in bad light in her film Parched and insulting them.

Filmmaker Leena Yadav and her husband have been getting death threats from Gujarat.(Yogen Shah)

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“These calls started around two weeks back. My husband Aseem Bajaj, who is the producer of the film, is getting the calls and I think they are assuming that the same number is assigned to me and they have sent me Whatsapp notes. They are not sending me any written messages but only voice notes. They are saying ‘You don’t know what we can do to you”; says Yadav, whose film stars actors Radhika Apte, Tannishtha Chatterjee and Surveen Chawla in the lead roles.

“They are asking ‘Why did you use our costume?’ I am getting raving, ranting and screaming calls. We have not named the community. I have continuously said that it’s a fictional village. We have used a mix of costumes and I did not want to make a community based film, so we are were very careful about it,” she adds.

Yadav says she tried to reason with the callers but it was all in vain. She eventually filed a complaint in Mumbai’s Oshiwara police station on Monday.

“We thought we will explain to them that your identity is not what you wear. I tried talking to them. The calls started before release of the film, so we know that they have illegally downloaded the film. Tomorrow I can’t even name my characters because it would upset a particular community,” she says.