Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone starring ‘Pathaan’ has become the latest victim of Bollywood’s boycott culture. This time the reason is the use of the saffron colour in Deepika’s outfit in the song ‘Besharam Rang’. MP State Minister Narottam Mishra said the song is highly objectionable and shot with a dirty mindset. This was followed by various political leaders raising their voices against the song for hurting religious sentiments.
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Significance of the colour ‘Saffron’ in India.
One would argue that in India, colours play a very important role in religion and culture, showing a very deep significance to religious sentiments. The colour ‘Saffron’ holds an even larger significance in Hinduism as it symbolizes all aspects of Hinduism – the colour of Agni or fire. A colour of purity, it represents religious abstinence, purging and resultant purity. It is the colour of saints and ascetics, those who have renounced the world. Wearing saffron colour symbolizes the quest for Knowledge of the Godhead.
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Should we restrict colours according to Religion?
There are known to be around 4200 religions (known and unknown) in the world and if we start to orient one colour to one religion, it would be unfair to do justice to the system of distribution as one religion is not just restricted to an individual colour but the variety of colours hold different significance and value in every religion. Yes, maybe one colour might hold more significance but it doesn’t necessarily translate to that religion having any authority or hold over a particular colour.
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Why is the use of Saffron considered an issue now?
Bollywood / Hindi Cinema today is more than a decade old. Initially, pictures were Black & White but after colour cinema came into the picture, we have had a vivid representation of various colours and saffron has been used extensively. Why was it not an issue then? Why has saffron got a sacred flavour only now? The answer to these questions may be up for extensive debate but as a sensible viewer one might wonder why is this even a reason for controversy.
Looking at the larger picture, the quality of political arguments and debates in the country has witnessed a steep decline lately with the majority of politicians raising their voices over issues that are no-brainers, distracting the citizens from concentrating on mainstream important issues such as inflation, unemployment, etc. The demand for boycotting the film is held high and it’s only a matter of time before the film is released. Only then one can conclude the outcome of this controversy.
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