BJP welcomes Centre’s directive to Netflix to remove ‘Ghooskhor Pandat’ film teaser

New Delhi: The BJP on Friday welcomed the Centre’s directive to Netflix for the removal of the teaser and other promotional contents of the film, “Ghooskhor Pandat”, from social media, saying attempts to demean or tarnish the image of any section of the society are unacceptable.

The film sparked a controversy over its title, with politicians and social media users calling it casteist, prompting its director, Neeraj Pandey, and lead star Manoj Bajpayee to issue a clarification, saying the intention was not to cause hurt and that they are withdrawing all the publicity material related to the movie. This came after the Centre asked OTT platform Netflix to remove the teaser and other promotional contents of the film from social media.

Welcoming the Centre’s intervention, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Anurag Thakur said, “The central government’s order to remove the controversial teaser and all related content of the film ‘Ghooskhor Pandat’ from Netflix is ​​welcome and commendable.”

“We condemn any act driven by malice against the Brahmin community or any other community,” the former Union minister said in a post on X.

He said the BJP and the Narendra Modi government have utmost respect for all sections of the society and are strong advocates of upholding the dignity and integrity of every community.

Any attempt to demean or tarnish the image of any section of the society is “completely unacceptable to us”, Thakur added.

Madhya Pradesh BJP chief Hemant Khandelwal also welcomed the Centre’s intervention in the matter and said any malice against any community, including Brahmins, is “unacceptable under any circumstance”.

He condemned the film’s title and said attempts to demean and tarnish the image of any section of the society cannot be tolerated “at any cost”.

In a post in Hindi on X, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, “We wholeheartedly commend the Centre’s swift and decisive action! Offensive content, such as the

derogatory film ‘Ghooskhor Pandat’, has not only been removed from the platform, but an FIR has also been registered in the case.” Agencies