Bollywood actor Aamir Khan's much discussed movie 'Laal Singh Chaddha' has been released amidst a campaign to boycott the film.
Some organisations and a section of citizens have been running a campaign to boycott the movie, which is the authorised remake of 1994 Hollywood blockbuster 'Forrest Gump'.
The campaign to boycott the movie has been running on social media for the past few weeks. Netizens have cited the Bollywood star's statement on intolerance given in 2015 and his movie 'PK' as reasons for the boycott. Those running the online trend to boycott the movie have alleged that the actor does not respect Indian culture and tradition.
Sensing the threat that the boycott campaign poses to the business prospects of the movie, the actor apologised and said: "If I have hurt anyone by any means, I regret it. I don't want to hurt anyone. If someone doesn't want to watch the film, I'd respect their sentiment."
In an interview, Aamir had said he was worried over rising intolerance and his wife had suggested moving out of the country.
His co-actor in the movie, Kareena Kapoor Khan has also made a request not to boycott the film.
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C-Voter-IndiaTracker conducted a survey on behalf of IANS to know people's views about the campaign to shun the movie.
The survey revealed that Indians were acutely divided in their opinion about the boycott campaign. During the survey, while 51 per cent respondents agreed with the boycott campaign citing Aamir's controversial remarks, 49 per cent completely disagreed with such a drive.
Interestingly, this division of views prevailed across different age groups.
According to the survey data, while 52 per cent of respondents in the 18-24 years age group supported the appeal against the movie, 48 per cent of them disagreed and asserted that people should watch it.
Similar division was evident in the opinion of respondents of 35-44 years of age. While 52 per cent of them opined in favour of the boycott campaign, 48 per cent refused to agree.
Predictably, during the survey, the NDA and opposition voters expressed their views as per their ideological leanings.
As per the survey data, while 67 per cent NDA voters supported the call to boycott the movie, 60 per cent opposition supporters did not share the sentiment.
