World

'Love Jihad': Trolls Hound Bollywood Actor Akshay Kumar's Movie Promoting Interfaith Marriage

Bollywood action hero Akshay Kumar, the only Indian to feature on the 2020 Forbes list of highest-paid male actors, has remained in the headlines for his upcoming horror-comedy movie "Laxmmi Bomb" in which he plays the role of a transgender ghost. The movie earlier faced boycott calls after the actor admitted to drug use in Bollywood.
Sputnik

After forcing India's leading jewellery brand to apologise for an advert promoting interfaith weddings, the troll army has now unleashed its anger on A-list actor Akshay Kumar for his much-hyped movie "Laxmmi Bomb".

Netizens are trending #ShameonAkshayKumar and slamming the movie for promoting "Love Jihad", a derogatory reference to interfaith couples with a Muslim husband and a Hindu wife.

Many people on Twitter have demanded to change title of the film because it uses a Hindu Goddess-sounding name, Laxmi, for a Muslim character. Several are outraged as the movie promotes Hindu-Muslim relationships.

The list of reasons for netizens' outrage didn't stop there. Some of them have called for boycotting the movie, as the movie is produced by Shabina Khan, a Muslim, and accused her of being a Kashmiri separatist.

​However, a counter-trend #WeLoveUAkshayKumar followed on Twitter as his fans came out in his defence. Akshay's supporters slammed the people for calling Akshay "anti-national" and for growing intolerance.

​On Monday, a similar controversy ensued when India's leading jewellery brand Tanishq showed an advertisement featuring a Hindu-Muslim couple. In the wake of the advert, miscreants attacked a jewellery store in the state of Gujarat, forcing the store manager to apologise.

Discuss