Yash's Toxic faces fresh trouble: Christian group says teaser 'hurts religious sentiments', files complaint with CBFC

The National Christian Federation has lodged a formal complaint against Yash's Toxic alleging scenes in the film's teaser are inappropriate.

Yash’s upcoming pan-India action film, Toxic, has courted several controversies even before the release of its trailer. After the Women’s Commission slammed its teaser for the depiction of a sex scene, a Christian group has filed a complaint with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and others, claiming that the teaser hurts religious sentiments.

Yash as Raya in Toxic teaser.

Christian group files complaint against Toxic

The National Christian Federation has lodged a formal complaint to the Film Chamber of Commerce, as well as to the state government's Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) against Toxic. Objecting to scenes depicting Michael, the Archangel, the complaint says the depictions are inappropriate and amount to an insult, claiming they hurt religious sentiments.

The complaint refers to the teaser showcasing a sex scene in a car parked outside a cemetery, followed by a violent gunfight in the cemetery. The said premises house several religious iconographies, including a statue of Archangel Michael.

The NCF has demanded the immediate removal of the scenes and urged the makers to take the teaser down from YouTube and other platforms. The teaser included Yash's first look from the film and was shared by the makers, KVN Productions, last month.

The Toxic teaser controversy

Earlier, the depiction of graphic sex in the teaser had raised eyebrows with many viewers calling it unnecessary and distasteful. A complaint was filed against the makers for outraging the modesty of women with the sequence. The backlash to the scene intensified so much that Beatriz Taufenbach, the actor in the teaser, deleted her Instagram account amid the furore.

However, the film received support as well from within the fraternity. At the 17th Bengaluru International Film Festival, in a session titled 'Fearless Film Making', filmmaker Anurag Kashyap talked about the backlash Toxic teaser received and defended the film. Praising the film as ‘an extremely courageous attempt’, the filmmaker said, “The outrage expressed against the teaser reveals our cultural hypocrisy. When male actors appear shirtless on screen or display excessive machismo, no one questions it. But when a woman celebrates her sexuality, it becomes hard to accept.”

All about Toxic

Directed by Geethu Mohandas, Toxic: A Fairytale for Grown-Ups also stars Rukmini Vasanth, Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Tara Sutaria, Huma Qureshi, Akshay Oberoi and Sudev Nair in key roles. Yash and Geetu co-wrote the film. The film is scheduled to hit theatres on March 19, and will clash with Ranveer Singh’s much anticipated Dhurandhar 2.