The ongoing violence in Gujarat has forced the makers of at least three upcoming films to call off the Ahmedabad leg of their city promotional tours...
Since Tuesday evening, Gujarat has witnessed violence sparked by certain community's OBC quota agitation. As tension continues to mount — nine people were killed in a police-protesters clash — the Army has been called in to control the escalating violence and curfew clamped in parts of Ahmedabad, Surat and Mehsana district. The situation, apart from paralysing normal life, seems to have far-reaching consequences with the promotional events of at least two films falling victim to the unrest. hitlist takes a look at the present and earlier films that have borne the brunt of unanticipated security concerns...
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John Abraham (left) and Shruti Haasan were supposed to visit Ahmedabad for the promotions of 'Welcome Back' on Wednesday, but the tour was cancelled at the last minute. Pic/Solaris images
Better safe than sorry
The cast of 'Welcome Back' was supposed to visit Ahmedabad as part of their city promotion tours on Wednesday. Sans Nana Patekar, all the lead actors — John Abraham, Anil Kapoor and Shruti Haasan — were expected to visit a college and make an appearance at a shopping mall too. However, when news about the violence trickled in on late Tuesday night, Gujarat-based sponsors of the multi-starrer requested the makers to cancel the trip. As a result, the three actors decided to conduct media interactions here. Plans to visit Ahmedabad have not been scrapped as such, but the makers might just be considering it due to time constraints — there seems no immediate respite in sight as far as the Gujarat issue goes and the film is slated to release next week.
Last-minute sigh
The team of Tia Bajpai, Raajpal Yadav, Vijay Raaz and Satyajeet Dubey, which promoted their forthcoming release, 'Baankey Ki Crazy Baraat', in Delhi and Jaipur earlier this week, were crestfallen when they landed in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. Upon their arrival, they were informed that curfew has been clamped in the city.
The team of 'Baankey Ki Crazy Baraat' cancelled promotional events in Ahmedabad at the last minute on Wednesday
Director Aijaz Khan says, "We were to visit the city yesterday and had to change our plans at the last minute. We had planned a few publicity activities but it fell through. Cancellation of film promotions always affect you as you lose out on a chunk of your target audience. We heavily depend on Ahmedabad for promotions as it covers a large chunk of Gujarat. Apart from that, you suffer monetary losses because a lot of things are involved, right from booking of the venue and travel to hotel accommodation."
Herogiri on hold
Star kids Athiya Shetty and Sooraj Pancholi, who will be making their debut with Hero, a Salman Khan production, are kickstarting their whirlwind city tour this week to create a buzz around their film, an official remake of 1983 Jackie Shroff-starrer 'Hero'. However, they have chosen to leave the prime Gujarat city, a major market for films, out of the plan. Athiya says, "We will be visiting different cities, but as of now, the Ahmedabad tour looks unlikely. We have been asked not to visit the city at the moment. So, we will have to skip it this time."
Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty will be leaving Ahmedabad out of their city tour plan for Hero as curfew has been clamped in the city owing to public unrest. pic/pradeep dhivar
Stop the music
The makers of Shahid Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor-starrer 'Mausam' (2011) had zeroed in on New Delhi to host a success bash for the film's music.
A success bash for Mausam's music in the national capital was cancelled in 2011 following a blast outside the Delhi High Court
The film's team was set to take to the stage with a live performance at a five-star hotel and invites had been sent out. However, they had to call it off following a bomb blast outside the High Court there. Prior to this incident, the music launch of Mausam in London had also been cancelled due to riots in the English capital. The event was supposed to take place in Hyde Park in central London on August 15 with the lead pair set to perform live for the Bollywood fans there, especially the Indian diaspora.
Epic protests
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 2013 blockbuster 'Goliyon Ki Rasleela: Ram-Leela' stirred up a hornet's nest with the Rajput community staging protests soon after the trailer was launched.
A group of 40 protesters were detained when they staged protests outside the Ahmedabad airport in 2013 ahead of Deepika Padukone's visit to the city for the promotions of 'Goliyon Ki Rasleela: Ram-Leela'
They alleged that Rajputs had been misrepresented in the film (as gun-totting, violent men). When lead actress Deepika Padukone went to Ahmedabad to attend a Garba function, during Navratri as part of the film's promotions, there were angry demonstrators outside the airport calling for a ban on the film. The 40 protesters, who were detained by police and later let off, called for a ban on the film's release in Gujarat.
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