Ajay Devgn starrer Singham raked up to controversy on the very first day of its release in the state of Karnataka on Friday 22nd July.Protesters from Karnataka Rakshana Vedike tore movie posters and damaged facilities in theatres in Bidar, Hubli, Bagalkot, Raichur, and Bijapur, alleging that Kannadigas were portrayed in a disparaging manner in the movie. They were furious about a particular reference to Kannadigas being referred as dogs in the movie, in a line of dialogue delivered by Devgn.
Prakashraj, who plays the villain, has his origin in Karnataka and the controversial scene starts off with Prakashraj threatening Devgn that he would bring 1,000 people from Karnataka border to thrash him. Ajay (who plays Bhajirao Singham, a Maratha) retorts that one lion would suffice to shoo away a thousand dogs.
"This is an insult to Kannadigas," said an angry Suresh Kumar, a protester in Bidar.
Many theatres stopped the shows. The protests too came down after the distributors announced that the controversial dialogue had been removed.
Actor Prakashraj said that the dialogue has been misunderstood and blown out of proportion.
"There is nothing controversial about it. I am a Kannadiga. How would I allow conversations that provide pain to people of Karnataka in any movie in which I am cast?" he asked.
He added that in the view of public interest, the scene has now been removed.