Red Chillies alters dagger scene to avoid trouble before Zero release

With just over a day to go for the film's release, the makers of Zero clearly do not want any trouble. Some Sikhs had objected to a scene in which Shah Rukh Khan’s character Bauua Singh is seen sporting a kirpan. Red Chillies Entertainment has now filed an affidavit in the Bombay high court that the contentious portion has been altered.

Red Chillies took swift action after a person named Amritpal Singh Khalsa filed a petition seeking removal of the contentious scene.

Red Chillies Entertainment and Color Yellow Productions, which are co-producing the film, have always maintained that the weapon shown was not a kirpan. But not wanting any trouble at the last minute, the makers have used VFX and changed the dagger to a sword.

“Despite the fact that the film and its poster depicted only an ornamental dagger and not a kirpan [the ceremonial dagger that devout Sikhs carry], steps have been taken by the respondent to alter the relevant scenes. The portions in question have been altered through visual effects to depict an ornamental sword," Red Chillies said in a statement as reported by the DNA newspaper.

In his petition, Amritpal Singh had slammed Khan and the makers for the way the kirpan was displayed. "Display of the kirpan in such a way is blasphemous and the scenes should be removed immediately," he had said.

In the poster, Bauua, the dwarf, dressed in a vest and shorts and with a garland of notes around him, was seen wearing a dagger.

Before Amritpal Singh, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) general secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa had filed a complaint against the star for allegedly hurting the sentiments of the community.

The producers had then filed a caveat in the Delhi high court requesting the court not to pass any ex-parte order against the film based on any complaint registered against it.

Zero is set to be released on Friday 21 December.