Case against Saif Ali Khan filed in UP following actor's comment on Raavan in Adipurush interview

A case has been filed against actor Saif Ali Khan by an advocate in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh over his recent interview about Adipurush. The actor had said during the interview that the film would portray the ‘humane’ side of Raavan. The actor will play the character of Raavan in the upcoming mythical epic that is being directed by Om Raut. The film will see Prabhas essaying the role of Lord Ram. According to a report by The Indian Express, the petition says that Khan’s controversial interview, dated 6 December, saw him saying that Raavan was justified in kidnapping Lord Rama’s consort Sita because Ram’s younger brother Lakshman had cut his sister Surpanakha’s nose. As per the report, in an interaction with Mumbai Mirror, Khan had said it is interesting to play a demon king, but they will make him humane, increase the entertainment quotient and justify his abduction of Sita and the war with Rama as revenge for what Lakshman did to Surpanakha. According to a report in The Times of India, the case is in the court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate in Jaunpur district of UP. The ACJM court has fixed 23 December as the next date of hearing in the case. The report added that civil court advocate Himanshu Srivastava gave an application through advocate Upendra Vikram Singh under section 156 (3) and as per the petition, the plaintiff has deep faith in the ‘Sanatan Dharma’ and that the actor’s interview is a negative portrayal of ‘faith’ and ‘faith in Sanatan Dharma’. The report added that apart from the plaintiff, witnesses Ajit Singh, Vinod Srivastava, Brijesh Nishad, Nilesh Nishad, Surya Prakash Singh, and Vivek Tiwari who also saw and heard the interview through internet media saw their religious sentiments getting hurt. Following Khan’s comments on Adipurush and the portrayal of Raavan in the film, BJP leader Ram Kadam had taken to Twitter to issue a statement through a series of tweets directed at the actor as well as the director of the film, where he said that if the director plans to show Raavan in a positive light and justify the inhuman act of abduction of Sita, they will never allow it to happen. See the post

Actor #SaifAliKhan makes an extremely shocking statement regarding his forthcoming film Adipurush. Saif who plays Ravan's character says Ravan's abduction of Sita Maa will be justified in the film. Ravan's humane side will be shown and his war against Sri Ram will be justified.

— Ram Kadam (@ramkadam) December 6, 2020

Following the tweet, Saif Ali Khan issued a statement where he said that he is aware that what he said during the interview had caused controversy and hurt people’s sentiments. Stating that it was never his intention, the actor said he would like to sincerely apologise to everyone and withdraw his statement.