Just when Priyanka Chopra was soaring high in her career, her wax wings melted from flying too close to ignorance.
The Sikkimese film, produced by her, named Pahuna recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and received a standing ovation. But Priyanka dived bang into the middle of controversy while describing the film in an interview. She said Sikkim, a small state in India, is “troubled by insurgency”.
Perhaps Priyanka meant Manipur, a different Northeastern state which has been dealing with insurgency since the 1980s.
She added that the film is about refugee crisis and has been shot from the perspective of children.
It is about refugee crisis on being moved from one place to the other without understanding why they’re suddenly packing their bags and leaving and religion.
Sikkim is India’s third-richest state (after Delhi and Chandigarh) by per capita income. It is seventh in terms of literacy and is also deemed one of the cleanest states. In fact, in 2008, it was declared India’s first open defecation-free state.
In 2016, it became the country’s first and only organic state, and as far as gender issues are concerned, on a nationwide survey it was rated as the state with the best working conditions for women.
She also went onto say that Sikkim never had a film industry, and that her film is the first movie to be made in the region.
It is true that Sikkim doesn’t have a full-fledged film industry but Pahuna is certainly not the first movie to come out of the state.
A Lepcha film Dhokbu, that premiered recently, earned a lot of praise, thereby proving that Priyanka isn’t the sole harbinger of cinema in Sikkim.
Reactions on her statements ranged from “I want to slap GK booklets on her face” to “kindly check the facts”.
Sikkim’s Tourism Minister Ugen T Gyatso demanded an apology from Priyanka Chopra. Speaking to News18 he said:
Priyanka’s movie is not the first Sikkimese release, many films have been done in the past. Sikkim is a peaceful state and the safest for women. Priyanka Chopra must clarify her statement.
As the controversy spiralled out of hand, Priyanka reportedly clarified her statement, Sikkim Tourism Secretary C Zangpo told News18. She reportedly said that she has been misquoted, even though the video clearly shows her describing Sikkim as an insurgency-hit state.
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