Kedarnath: Priests Offended Over alleged 'Love Jihad' In Sushant Singh Rajput-Sara Ali Khan Starrer; MLA Asks Censor Board To Intervene

Sara Ali Khan and Sushant Singh Rajput-starrer ‘Kedarnath’ has landed in a row after the release of its teaser on October 30. A section of the priests from the pilgrimage site have expressed their opposition to the story for depicting ‘love jihad.’ Though the teaser didn’t feature any dialogues, Sushant’s character seemingly is a Muslim as he was seen performing Namaaz, while the debutante is most probably Hindu, as she visits the shrine town. 'Love jihad' entails alleged targeted inter-religious marriage with the intention of conversion of the bride to Islam.

READ: 'Kedarnath' Teaser : Sara Ali Khan- Sushant Singh Rajput Starrer Proves 'No Act Of God Can Defeat The Power Of Love'

“What is shown in the teaser is wrong. It is ‘love jihad’. We won’t let the film release,” Vinod Shukla, Chairman of Kedarnath Sabha, an organisation representing the priests of the area, told Republic TV on the controversy. According to reports, protests have been held at multiple locations in the area against the movie. 

Meanwhile, the MLA of Kedarnath, Manoj Rawat, said, “People have been getting offended with what they have seen. The censor board should see the teaser to take a call on it. No one’s sentiments should be hurt.” 

‘Kedarnath’ is not new to controversy. The movie had earlier witnessed legal trouble between the director Abhishek Kapoor and one of the previous producers of the movie, Prernaa Arora of KriArj Entertainment. After trading allegations against each other, they later ‘parted ways’ and Abhishek Kapoor took over the production responsibilities. Later, Ronnie Screwvala came on board as one of the producers of the movie. 

READ: Sara Ali Khan Unveils The First Look Of 'Kedarnath', Says 'No Tragedy, No Act Of God Can Defeat The Power Of Love'

The other controversy regarding the movie was when Sara had signed Rohit Shetty’s ‘Simmba’ opposite Ranveer Singh. Abhishek Kapoor had reportedly dragged her to court as she was allegedly supposed to keep her dates exclusively for his movie. Later, Abhishek, Ronnie and Rohit arrived at a mutual agreement to let her shoot both the films simultaneously.