Dawn Images

Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha may have hit the theatres but the hashtag to boycott the film is still trending online. Since the start of the online movement, many actors have raised their voice against cancel culture against Khan and Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan, both of which were trending online for all the wrong reasons. Mirzapur’s Pankaj Tripathi has also spoken up and said it’s “people’s right to voice their opinion” since they live in a democratic country.

In an interview with India Today on Friday, day after Laal Singh Chaddha and Raksha Bandhan released, Tripathi talked about the correlation between films and society’s betterment.

“In a democratic world, everyone has the right to voice their opinion. But at the same time, films are a big medium that generate revenue to the government. This revenue is then used for the betterment of the society. However, if they agree or not, this is each individual’s right,” he said.

Despite hitting theatres, Khan’s film is still on the radar of people who wanted Laal Singh Chaddha to be banned the day its trailer released. The film opened with INR 100 million at the box office this weekend. According to the Indian Express, some protests are also taking place in several regions of India with members of Hindu outfit Sanatan Rakshak Sena staging protests in Uttar Pradesh.

The film that also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan as the PK actor’s love interest. The film itself has faced a lot of backlash be it for the idea of making a Hindi remake of Tom Hanks’ Forrest Gump, Khan’s acting, his age gap with his on-screen mother Mona Singh and allegedly hurting religious sentiments and for disrespecting the Indian Army.