Actor Manoj Bajpayee stated that neither he nor the team behind his next Netflix movie anticipated the criticism around its original title, Ghooskhor Pandat. He claimed that his family was also involved in the controversy and that the retaliation included threats, trolling, and online harassment. He claimed that the creators did not consider changing the title to be a significant problem and apologised within two days.
Manoj Bajpayee discussed the issue in a recent interview with PTI. He claimed that everyone working on the project was impacted by the circumstance. The actor also revealed that during that time, he personally got threats.
"We didn't expect it. But when it happened, in two days' time, we put out our apology. If anything is offending anyone with that much of intensity, we as creative people are always there to mend our ways or correct ourselves. I personally feel that the title change is not going to be such a huge thing; we are creative people, we can come up with ten different titles, and they will be equally exciting."
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Manoj Bajpayee went on to say that he didn't let the threats stop him from travelling and doing his job. He also discussed the online backlash that followed the scandal and his decision to ignore it. "But I must tell you that when the threats were coming to me, I was also travelling continuously without any fear. When people are trolling you, abusing you and getting your family into the whole thing, I feel empathy for them."
"The film talks about something else. But I think on social media now people are impatient and they are eager and desperate to come out with their opinion without even knowing fully about the subject matter."
Ghooskhor Pandat Title Row
Ghooskhor Pandat stars Bajpayee alongside Nushrratt Bharuccha, Saqib Saleem, Akshay Oberoi and Divya Dutta. It is written by Neeraj Pandey and Ritesh Shah, and marks Shah’s directorial debut. Neeraj Pandey had earlier said 'Pandat' was used as a nickname in the film and was not meant as an attack on any community. He also said the team acknowledged the hurt caused and would withdraw all promotional material pending review.
The producers promised the Supreme Court that the title had been withdrawn and would be altered. The affidavit was recorded by the court, which also mentioned that the movie was in the editing stage. The bench further inquired as to whether the petitioners had seen the movie and noted that the primary complaint might not endure if the title was removed.