#RumiWasntWhite: Thousands sign petition to oppose Leonardo DiCaprio being cast as Rumi

When Leonardo DiCaprio won the Oscar for best actor (for The Revnant) this year, social media and fans went in a frenzy. He was winning the award after years of pursuit and splendid roles (like Blood Diamond, Shutter Island, The Departed to name a few). That Leonardo DiCaprio is a gifted actor is not a fact to be contested. [caption id=“attachment_2636570” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Leonardo DiCaprio landed himself in midst of a casting controversy. Image Courtesy: Reuters[/caption] However, when news broke out that the Oscar winning screenwriter of The Aviator, David Franzoni wanted to make a film on the well-revered Persian poet Jalaluddin al-Rumi — better known as Rumi to those of you who share his deeply philosophical quotes on Facebook  — all hell broke lose on social media. After the hashtag #RumiWasntWhite started trending on twitter, an angry petition has garnered more than 12,000 signatures online is doing the rounds. The petition states that the choice to cast DiCaprio as Rumi is ‘both ludicrous and offensive’. In this Guardian interview, Franzoni speaks about his decision of casting DiCaprio: “Rumi is hugely popular in the United States. I think it [the film] gives him a face and a story. We’re trying to invent and resurrect a character at the same time because there is so much missing in the shadow of history, and some of it is idealised so you have to go back and find the human being who became a saint, because we can’t write about a saint.” However, sources close to DiCaprio have told Hollywood Reporter that though DiCaprio has not yet been asked to do the film, he will definitely not be pursuing it.