Vidyut Jammwal-starrer Commando 3 has earned backlash from wrestler and Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar, who has taken objection to a wrestler being portrayed as a child molester in the film. In one scene, the character can be seen pulling up the skirt of a minor in public before Jammval intervenes.
“I strongly condemn this scene as wrestlers are respectable people of the society with good moral standing (sic), Kumar told ANI. He demanded that the makers remove the scene from the film and apologise. “I strongly oppose the film and also urge everyone to oppose [it] as the film is portraying wrestlers in a bad way. The filmmakers haven’t done research on how wrestlers conduct themselves. I demand the removal of the objectionable scene,” he added.
A group of around 40 wrestlers from Pune also staged a protest outside City Pride theatre against the scene on Monday, 2 December, reports Hindustan Times. The publication quoted one of the wrestlers, Chandrakant Patil, as saying, “The scene depicts the entire wrestling community in a bad light. The movie defames wrestlers for their own commercial benefit. There is anger in the community and this protest is against the particular scene.”
National gold winner Maruti Warpe added, “Wrestling is as important for us as our mother, because it gives us name and fame. The protest is a sign of our revolt against that scene. We do not have anything against the movie. We only want to show the wrestlers may be powerful physically but they always respect women.”
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