Ranveer Singh vs Rishab Shetty: Decoding the 'Kantara' controversy as complaint filed against the 'Dhurandhar' star

The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) on Monday submitted a complaint to police against actor Ranveer Singh alleging he insulted Goddess Chamundadevi during the closing ceremony of the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) held in Goa.

What does the complaint say?

According to the complaint, Singh had imitated on stage the divine form of a deity portrayed in the Kannada film “ _Kantara-Chapter 1_” and referred to Chamundi Daiva, revered by the Kotitulu community, as a “female ghost”.

HJS representatives Pramod Tuyekar and Dilip Shetye submitted a memorandum to Panaji police station sub-inspector Sahin Shetye seeking the registration of an offence under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus.

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“Chamundi Daiva is considered a sacred family deity of the Tulu community, and depicting or describing the deity in a derogatory manner amounts to disrespect. Such acts may cause public resentment and disturb peace,” the HJS said.

An apology from the Dhurandhar star

While seeking a thorough investigation, the outfit also urged IFFI organisers to frame a code of conduct to ensure no religious deity is depicted in an insulting manner at future events.

“Ranveer Singh should issue a public apology and assure he would refrain from making such remarks or performances in the future,” the HJS said while appealing to its supporters to register their protest in a peaceful and lawful manner.

Singh was not available for comment.

Another report says that Shetty had warned the actor as he went on to the stage to talk about his 2025 directorial and the world he portrays in the blockbuster.

Ranveer Singh, Rishab Shetty, and  Kantara

The actor imitated a scene from the 2025 blockbuster and told Shetty how much he loved the film. But the imitation didn’t go down well with some people on social media.

Social media furious 

One user said, “How can actors lack basic understanding of what should and shouldn’t be said? It is extremely disrespectful for people from the South that their goddess is being referred to as a female ghost.”

A second wrote- “This is so disrespectful. She is not a ghost but a goddess herself.” Another wrote, “What an unaware and disrespectful man. His wife belongs to the same geographical region as the daiva tradition. At least show some respect.”

More about Dhurandhar

Speaking about   Dhurandhar's director Aditya Dhar, he hailed the National-Award winning filmmaker’s intense creation, URI: The Surgical Strike, excitedly asking the audiences if they’ve experienced the grand spectacle! The actor also opened up about director Aditya Dhar’s intention behind creating Dhurandhar and shared that the intent was to take an Indian movie to the world, following the classic international creations like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (China) and Parasite (Korea)

With added inputs from agencies