Veteran Bollywood actor Annu Kapoor sparked a controversy after he claimed that the makers of 2007 film Chak De! India starring Shah Rukh Khan, intentionally changed the religion of the protagonist. According to him, the character was inspired by Indian hockey coach Mir Ranjan Negi, a Hindu. But the lead character in the film was made a Muslim—Kabir Khan, played by Shah Rukh—to push religious propaganda.
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Speaking to ANI, Kapoor said, "The main character in Chak De! India is based on a famous coach, Negi Saab. But in India, they want to show a Muslim as a good character and make fun of a Pandit (Hindu priest). This is something old, where they use the idea of Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb (Hindu-Muslim unity) to put a label on it."
Netizens were quick to slam Kapoor, calling him “attention-seeker”. One user said, "Differences arise when actors want to keep themselves in the limelight by criticising each other's society." Another user said, “Negi had already said that this movie is not a documentary of Mir Ranjan Negi's life. It is in fact the story of a team that becomes a winning lot from a bunch of hopeless girls.”
There were some who defended Kapoor. “He has the courage to speak the truth!”, a user said.
“This is the truth. These Urduwood people have destroyed the Hindus more than the Mughals and the British,” another pointed out.
Annu Kapoor was last seen in Hindi drama film Hamare Baarah, released earlier this year.