The Making of #BoycottPathaan: Uncovering the Reality Behind Outrage Against SRK
What are the real reasons behind the protests against Pathaan, and is the outrage more manufactured than organic?
What are the reasons behind the protests against Pathaan, and is the outrage more manufactured than organic?
(GIF: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)
Does the hashtag #BoycottPathaan sound familiar to you? It's likely that you would have seen this trend on your social media feeds at some point in the last two years.
On 12 December 2022, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra raised an objection against Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone starrer Pathaan, suggesting that the film might face a ban in the state.
He seemed particularly unimpressed with the use of the colours 'saffron' and 'green' in the video of the song 'Besharam Rang'.
What happened next was very similar to what had happened with some of the big Bollywood films in the recent past. There were calls to boycott it – offline and online – followed by protests.
It was way back in 2020 that the trend #BoycottPathaan (also spelled as 'Pathan' by users online) started gaining momentum on social media.
But what are the reasons behind the protests against Pathaan, and is the outrage more manufactured than organic? To answer these questions, we investigated the growing calls to boycott the film.
The next three chapters detail our findings on the outrage and the people behind it. Click on the links below to read more.
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