Akshay Kumar unveiled new posters for his upcoming venture, “Mission Raniganj: The Great Bharat Rescue,” and has found himself at the center of a social media storm. The film was initially titled “Mission Raniganj: The Great Indian Rescue.” The alteration in the film’s title coincides with the ongoing debate surrounding the shift from “India” to “Bharat” in nomenclature. The controversy ignited when President Droupadi Murmu extended a dinner invitation to G20 delegates, referencing herself as the “President of Bharat” rather than India. This divisive issue on the internet has now expanded to include Akshay Kumar’s film title change.
Several Twitter users shared screenshots of Akshay Kumar’s previous posters (which have since been deleted) where the term “India” was employed instead of “Bharat.” A segment of the online community questioned the existence of Mr. Kumar’s earlier tweet related to the film, in which “India” was used instead of “Bharat.” One user asked, “Ye tweet kahan gaya (Where did this tweet go)?”
Another Twitter user humorously inquired, “Aapki agli movie ka name BHARAT to nahin Akki bhai (Is the name of your next film Bharat)?”
One user, employing humor, posted an image from Mr. Kumar’s movie “Bhagam Bhag,” a well-known meme template, with the caption “Bharat.”
Despite Mr. Kumar acquiring Indian citizenship on India’s Independence Day earlier this year, memes regarding his previous Canadian citizenship continue to circulate.
The alteration in the film’s title wasn’t the sole reason for the trolling. A portion of the online community also pointed out editing discrepancies in one of the film’s posters, where certain faces appeared multiple times.
A user highlighted the error in the poster.
Another poster with similar observations surfaced.
“Mission Raniganj” recounts the story of the late mining engineer Jaswant Singh Gill, who spearheaded a heroic coal mine rescue mission, aiding miners trapped inside a flooded coal mine in Raniganj in November 1989.
The film, directed by Tinu Suresh Desai, also stars Parineeti Chopra, Kumud Mishra, Pavan Malhotra, Ravi Kishan, Varun Badola, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Rajesh Sharma, Virendra Saxena, Shishir Sharma, Ananth Mahadevan, Jameel Khan, Sudhir Pandey, Bachan Pachera, Mukesh Bhatt, and Omkar Das Manikpur. “Mission Raniganj” is scheduled for release on October 6. Akshay Kumar’s most recent appearance was in “OMG 2” alongside Pankaj Tripathi and Yami Gautam.