local outfit Jagannath Sena has taken strong exception to certain scenes in the new Hindi thriller Gunday in which scantily-clad Priyanka Chopra and others have been shown dancing on the replicas of chariots of lord Jagannath while wearing their shoes.
Jagannath Sena convenor Priyadarshan Patnaik said that such depiction and climbing on Raths (chariots) by the actors with their shoes on amount to blasphemy, insult to the Jagannath culture, Odia people and Jagannath devotees at large.
Patnaik demanded immediate deletion of these scenes from the film and threatened legal action against the producers and actors of the film. He said such depiction would hurt every Odia’s sentiment. The Daitapati Niyog, a body of servitors of the Shree Jagannath Temple of Puri who are considered protectors of the lord, has also found the scenes outrageous and an insult to lord Jagannath.
Nijog president Ramakrushna Das Mohapatra urged the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) and the Odisha Government to take immediate action against the producers of the film and demanded immediate removal of the scenes from the film.