What's the controversy around Annu Kapoor-starrer 'Hum Do Hamare Baarah'?
What's the story
Annu Kapoor-Manoj Joshi starrer Hum Do Hamare Baarah has found itself embroiled in controversy just two days after its poster was unveiled.
Hum Do Hamare Baarah is based on the menace of population explosion.
The film—directed by Kamal Chandra—is being panned on social media for being "Islamophobic" and "portraying the Muslim community in a negative light."
Here's how the controversy erupted on Twitter.
Poster
What did the 'controversial' poster show?
The makers unveiled the film's poster last Friday.
It showed a Muslim family in the foreground, further featuring a dilapidated house populated by several children, and a woman, supposedly their mother, who is expecting again.
While Kapoor is the family's patriarch, Manoj Joshi and Ashwini Kalsekar will be playing lawyers.
The plot details and release date are still under wraps.
Allegations
The film has now been labeled 'Islamophobic'
Journalist Rana Ayyub was one of the first few people to express her dismay.
She wrote, "The brazen hate and Islamophobia when they use the image of a Muslim family and call it Hum do Hamare Barah."
Author Mini Nair (The Fourth Passenger, The Lines of Separation) agreed and tweeted, "Bollywood's a part of a devious ploy to continue the propaganda against Muslims."
Twitter Post
Check out Ayyub's full tweet here
How does the censor board allow a film like this that depicts Muslims as the reason for population explosion and extends the relentless attack on the community. The brazen hate and Islamophobia when they use the image of a Muslim family and call it ‘Hum do Hamare Barah’. pic.twitter.com/UFsRqGgF89
— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) August 6, 2022
Netizens are divided over the 'disputed' poster
The controversy has now divided Twitter into two factions.
Several users subscribed to Ayyub's opinions and slammed the makers for "hurtful, regressive content."
However, numerous netizens also expressed their desire to watch the film and some even said that they'll choose Hum Do Hamare Baarah over Laal Singh Chaddha.
One Twitter user wrote, "[The film] is late, but India needs such films [regularly]."
Clarification
'The poster needs to be seen in the right context'
In light of the uproar against the unreleased movie, director Chandra has now issued a clarification.
During an interview, he said, "The poster of Hum Do Hamare Baarah is not objectionable at all. It needs to be seen in the right context."
Chandra also said that had they made the film depicting any other community, the backlash would have flared up either way.
Similar controversy
'Masoom Sawaal' is encountering a similar challenge
Hum Do Hamare Baarah is not the only film to have drawn the ire of a section of netizens.
Another upcoming movie, titled Masoom Sawaal, is coiled in controversies for allegedly hurting Hindus' sentiments.
The film's poster showed a sanitary napkin with Lord Krishna's face on it, which hasn't gone down well with some people.
An FIR has now been filed against the makers.