FIRs against Nayanthara’s Annapoorani for ‘hurting religious sentiments’ with comment on Lord Ram

Activists of two right wing outfits have filed separate complaints here against actor Nayanthara and others associated with her newly-released film Annapoorani, alleging that certain scenes in it hurt religious sentiments of Hindus, police said on Thursday.

The complaints allege that the film makes controversial remarks about Lord Ram and also promotes ‘love jihad’, they said. Annapoorani was recently released on Netflix and has now been pulled from the site. “A complaint was submitted by the activists of Bajrang Dal to the Oshiwara police station in western suburbs two days ago, and an inquiry in this connection is underway,” an official said. Another complaint was filed at the Lokmanya Tilak Marg police station in South Mumbai by Ramesh Solanki, founder of Hindu IT Cell, an official said. According to his complaint, the film Annapoorani demeans Lord Ram and it was intentionally released to hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus.

Solanki also cited a few scenes in the movie, which he says hurt the religious sentiments. The complaint mentions the last scene of the film which shows a temple priest’s daughter, played by Nayanthara, offering namaz wearing ‘hijab’ before making biryani. In another scene, Farhaan, the friend of the character played by Nayanthara, tells her Bhagwan Shri Ram and Maa Sita had also consumed meat. It mentions one more scene in which Nayanthara doesn’t go to the temple, but goes to Farhaan’s place for ‘iftaari’.

Solanki demanded in his complaint that a first information report (FIR) be filed against actor Nayanthara, director Nilesh Krishnaa and others for hurting religious sentiments and promoting ‘love jihad’. “We have received a written complaint application against the actor and others,” the official said. “The complainant has so far not visited the police station. We are waiting for him to appear before the police so that we can take further course of action,” the official said.

Love jihad is a term used by right-wing groups and activists to allege a concerted effort by Muslim men to convert Hindu women to Islam.