Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif starrer Tiger Zinda Hai has hit the screens on Friday and it is definitely off to a fantastic start. The actor, whose last film Tubelight failed to enthrall the audience, has bounced back stronger than ever before with his latest release Tiger Zinda Hia. While the film, helmed by Ali Abbas Zafar, has opened to positive reviews and is ruling the theatres, unfortunately, (post-release) the film has landed in trouble over his alleged derogatory remark, made against a particular caste while promoting the film on a television show.
Tiger Zinda Hai faces Valmiki community wrath. Salman, while promoting his film on television reality show, had allegedly used the word ‘bhangi’, referring to his dancing skills while Shilpa Shetty used the word, referring to describe how she looks at home usually. This has irked the members of the Valmiki community.
They staged protests across Rajasthan, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh and several other states throughout the day, demanding an apology from the actor. The protestors burned the posters of the film and tied garlands made of shoes on cutouts of the film, raising slogans. A bonfire was made of the movie posters. They said, “We will continue our protest till Salman Khan apologises…” For the uninitiated, Valmiki is made up of a cluster of dalit communities — a few of whom are Bhangi, Mehtar, Chuhra, Lal Beghi and Halalkhor. ALSO READ: (Salman Khan And Katrina Kaif’s Film Rakes In Rs 35 Plus Crore On Day 1 At The Box Office)
It does not end here. Later in the day, an FIR was filed against the two at Churu Police Station. Churu SP Rahul Bharat, in a statement to an online portal, said, “The FIR has been registered under Prevention of Atrocities Act… We also have included Section 153 A (promoting enmity between different group) of Indian Penal Code.”
Meanwhile, in Ahmedabad, a memorandum seeking action against Khan and Shetty under a provision of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been submitted by a Dalit outfit called Valmiki Swaraj Abhiyan-Gujarat to city police commissioner.