Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar 2 Faces Legal Trouble Over Smoking Scene

Dhurandhar: The Revenge, featuring Bollywood stars Ranveer Singh, R Madhavan, and Sanjay Dutt, among others, is set to open on March 19. A paid screening of the film has been scheduled on March 18, but even before its formal release, it looks to be fraught with controversy.

The Sikh community has objected to Ranveer Singh's representation in the film, claiming that it seeks to tarnish the Sikh community's image. Vicky Thomas Singh, a social activist from Maharashtra, has filed legal notices with the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting against the film's producer-director and against Ranveer Singh, the actor who plays the Sikh role.

What exactly does the notification say? The notification indicates that the Sikh community does not use tobacco and that tobacco and smoking are absolutely forbidden inside the Sikh faith. 

As a result, showing such a scenario in the film is not only religiously inappropriate but also disrespectful to the religious emotions of the whole Sikh community. Vicky Thomas Singh has ordered that all sequences featuring a Sikh character smoking be deleted immediately from the film. Furthermore, he has asked that such images be deleted from any connected posters, trailers, and other materials.

The notice begs for revisions. The notice requests that all blasphemous, offensive, and religiously insensitive content be removed immediately from Dhurandhar: The Revenge. It also seeks a public apology to the Sikh community, citing scenes and commercial materials that offend Sikh religious feelings.

In the film, Ranveer Singh plays Jaskeerat Singh Rangi, a fictitious spy who uses the identity Hamza Ali Mazaari to penetrate enemy circles in Pakistan and transmit intelligence back to India. The film's first segment portrayed Jaskeerat Singh Rangi as a prisoner who was later dispatched to Pakistan after undergoing training. In the second half of the film, various truths about Jaskirat Singh Rangi's life will be exposed.