Sunny Leone’s effigy ‘crushed’ by right wing activists in Mathura over music video

PTI, Dec 27, 2021, 8:23 AM IST

Mathura: Two Hindu right-wing outfits tried to burn an effigy of Bollywood actress Sunny Leone here accusing her of “indecent dance” and hurting their religious sentiments in a music video, police said on Sunday.

The incident took place on Saturday when the activists belonging to the two bodies tried to burn the actor’s effigy objecting over the song “Madhuban”. The song shares a few words of its lyrics with the iconic ‘Madhuban mein Radhika naache re’ song from the 1960 film ‘Kohinoor’.

The activists belonging to ‘Srikrishna Sena Sangathan’ and ‘Yuva Brahmin Mahasabha’ were stopped in the act with assurance of an FIR in the matter, a police officer said.

“Surveillance cell has been requested to stop obscene dance scene in the song,” Vrindavan SHO Ajai Kaushal said.

No FIR was lodged in the matter till late Sunday evening.

During their protest, when the activists could not burn the effigy, they crushed it under their feet. “On the assurance of action against the actor and producers, the plan of burning the effigy was withdrawn,” Sanjiv Singh Baba, national president, Srikrishna Sena Sangathan said.

Last week, a section of priests in Vridavan too had expressed objection over the video. Akhil Bhartiya Tirth Purohit Mahasabha of Vrindavan has now extended its demand and has sought action against the people behind the video produced by music label Saregama. The producer, director, and financer should also be booked for the ”offense”, Mahesh Pathak, the body’s national president said. Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra too demanded an apology from Leone and the song’s singers Shaarib and Toshi threatening them with ”action”.

The minister alleged that the video hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. Earlier in the day, Saregama issued a statement saying it will change the lyrics of the song within three days. ”The new song will replace the old one across all platforms over the next 3 days,” the label, which had released the song on its YouTube channel on December 22, said.