Six Columbus theaters premiering controversial Indian film 'Pathaan'
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At least six theaters in Greater Columbus are premiering the new Hindi-language film “Pathaan,” which is set to break records at the box office in India today.
Although the action film, which stars Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, has been controversial in India, many members of Greater Columbus’ Indian community said they are excited to see it.
“I love Shah Rukh Khan,” said Anjali Phougat, 40, a Delaware County-based fashion designer who moved to the U.S. from India 14 years ago. “Indian cinema has evolved, and it’s loved globally. It makes me feel so much proud of Bollywood. ”
Most local cinemas are showing the action film with English subtitles. It is playing at Crosswoods, Dublin Village 18, Easton 30, Gahanna 16, Movies 12 at Carriage Place and Polaris 18.
Approximately 16,000 Franklin County residents were born in India, and Indians are one of Greater Columbus' fastest-growing immigrant groups.
"Pathaan" is expected to break records set by previous hits like "Bahubali 2" and "War," with more than $6 million in advance booking sales, according to the Indian outlet First Post.
Some fans describe Khan, the 57-year-old star, as Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, and Leonardo DiCaprio all rolled into one.
“For mothers, he’s like a second son. For sisters, he’s like a brother. For a single woman, he’s like the guy she wants to be with,” said Manan Singh Katohora, an Indian American IT worker and Shah Rukh Khan fan-club founder in Washington, D.C., who has extended family in Columbus.
“I have some personal story with every release of (Khan’s) films over the past 20 years. I know exactly where I watched it, who I was with,” he added.
More:How Franklin County became so international
But Hindu nationalists allied with Prime Minister Narendra Modi have protested against the film, cancelling showings at some Indian theaters.
Khan, who is Muslim, plays a retired agent from RAW (the Indian equivalent of the CIA) who battles terrorists.
Protestors say they took exception to a scene where Khan’s co-star Deepika Padukone, 37, wears a saffron bikini — one of the colors of the Indian flag and also the color of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
But Phougat, the fashion designer, said she was unbothered by Padukone’s costume.
“People need to have broad mindset,” she said. “Cinema is for entertainment.”
More:How the Indian roadside trucker eatery is being reimagined in Greater Columbus
Peter Gill covers immigration and new American communities for The Dispatch in partnership with Report for America. You can support work like his with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America here: bit.ly/3fNsGaZ.
pgill@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus theaters premiering controversial Indian film 'Pathaan'
