'Jaat' director Gopichand Malineni opens up about controversial church scene in Sunny Deol's film: 'Censor board didn't mention anything'

Tollywood director Gopichand Malineni made his Bollywood debut with the film Jaat, starring Sunny Deol in the lead role, which hit theatres on April 10. The movie has drawn criticism over a church scene that some viewers found offensive. The controversy has led to legal action and a public apology from the film’s makers. Amidst the issues, Malineni opened up about the church scene featuring Randeep Hooda.

An FIR has been registered against actors Sunny Deol, Randeep Hooda, Vineet Kumar, director Gopichand Malineni, and producer Naveen for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. The complaint, filed by Viklav Gold, accused the team of portraying scenes that were disrespectful towards Jesus Christ and Christian traditions. The timing of the film’s release, which coincided with Holy Week, also raised concerns.
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The scene in question features Randeep Hooda’s character confronting individuals in a church setting, with a crucifix visible in the background. Addressing the uproar, director Gopichand spoke to Mid-Day, clarifying that measures were taken before the film's release. He said, “The censor board didn’t mention anything for the trailer cut, but later, it told us to blur the background in the film print. It was done even before people objected. If a film has to be a blockbuster, it has to be watched by as many people as possible. No filmmaker wants to hurt any people or community. We want to entertain them.”

The makers of Jaat issued an official statement on Friday amidst the legal trouble, confirming that the contentious scene had been removed from all versions of the film. “There has been a backlash for a specific scene in the film. The scene has been removed from the film with immediate effect. Our intention was not to hurt any religious sentiments. We deeply regret it and have taken quick action by deleting the scene from the film. We sincerely apologise to everyone whose beliefs have been hurt,” the statement read.

The FIR was lodged at the Jalandhar Cantonment police station under Section 299 of the IPC. SHO Sanjeev Kumar confirmed the names included in the case. According to Sacnilk, the Sunny Deol starrer has earned around Rs 65.65 crore at the box office.