Actor Vivek Sinha has found himself at the centre of an unexpected controversy following the release of the trailer of Dhurandhar: The Revenge, which stars Ranveer Singh in the lead. The film has generated massive buzz online, with its songs, dialogues and scenes trending across YouTube and social media platforms and drawing strong reactions from audiences.
Sinha, who plays the role of terrorist Zahoor Mistry in the film, recently revealed that he has been receiving threatening and critical messages on social media from people who appear to have mistaken his on-screen character for his real-life identity.
According to the actor, some viewers have even questioned why he chose to portray a Pakistani terrorist and deliver certain controversial lines in the film.
One particular dialogue from the trailer - “Hindu waqai darpok qaum hai (Hindus are truly a cowardly community)” - sparked anger among some viewers, who directed their outrage at Sinha personally rather than the fictional character he portrays.
Speaking about the incident in an interview with PTI, the actor recalled receiving a message from a woman on Instagram criticising him for the dialogue. He said, "A few days ago, I got a message on Instagram which read, 'You should be ashamed of being a Hindu and for a small amount of money, you are saying this for a Hindu'. A lady wrote this to me and left."
He added, "Honestly, I want to say this... Films are a mirror of the society. We show what kind of characters are there. So, if a terrorist from Pakistan has entered India saying 'Kill me too, but I will do what I will', we will have to show that. We have to show their thinking, what kind of thinking they had to enter India with."
"So I replied to that lady and left a voice note in which I mentioned that if we want to show such kind of a person, should we call a terrorist from Pakistan to play the role? We will only have to do that and act that ways. It's not like, if someone is committing a murder in a film, then we will find out, who is the person in jail, who has committed five murders to play the role," he concluded.
Dhurandhar 2, directed by Aditya Dhar, released in theatres on March 19 and so far, it collected over Rs 1,350 crore worldwide. While many in the audience have lauded the film, a section of viewers has also criticised it, alleging that it serves as 'propaganda'.
