Ghooskhor Pandat row: Protestors burn Manoj Bajpayee, Neeraj Pandey’s effigies, threaten to blacken their faces

Protests were held against the Netflix film Ghooskhor Pandat in various parts of India on Friday, demanding a ban on the film and the streaming platform.

The controversy around Neeraj Pandey’s upcoming film, Ghooskhor Pandat, has spilled onto the streets as well, with protests against the film’s allegedly offensive title across the country. In many places, effigies of producer Pandey and the film’s lead actor Manoj Bajpayee were burnt. The film has been accused of defaming the Brahmin community by associating the word ‘ghooskhor’ (corrupt) with Pandat, a colloquial term for Brahmins or Hindu priests.

People under the banner of Rashtriya Parshuram Sena stage a protest against filmmaker Neeraj Pandey and actor Manoj Bajpayee over the title of their upcoming film Ghooskhor Pandat, in Prayagraj, Friday. (PTI Photo) (PTI)

Effigies burnt, demand for ban on film

In Prayagraj, protestors burnt the effigies of the producer Neeraj Pandey, director Ritesh Shah, and the actors at Subhash Chowk on Friday. The protestors demanded a ban on Netflix, the streaming platform where the film is slated to release, accusing the makers of making the film ‘with the intention of targeting Hindus and Brahmins’.

Similarly, in Indore, the Brahmin community staged a protest against the film, burning effigies of Netflix and Manoj Bajpayee, the film’s lead actor. Members of the Parshuram Sena demanded a ban on the film and threatened to blacken the faces of Manoj and Neeraj Pandey if their demands weren’t met. A protester said, “We oppose the film; it should be banned, otherwise Manoj Bajpayee and Neeraj Pandey will have their faces blackened. We demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Censor Board ban this film.”

What is the controversy?

Ghooskhor Pandat is a thriller starring Manoj Bajpayee as a corrupt cop nicknamed Pandat. Neeraj Pandey issued a statement on Friday to clarify this and added that the film is not against any community. He also said that all promotional material for the film, including a first-look teaser, was being taken down. The Bharatiya Janata Party later claimed this was done on the Centre's directive.

Meanwhile, an FIR was logged against the film's makers in Lucknow for ‘hurting religious and caste sentiments’. The BJP has welcomed the move. Ghooskhor Pandat was slated to release on Netflix later this year. No release date has been announced yet.