Sikh clergy clears ‘Singh Saab’

Amritsar, Punjab: The controversy surrounding the Sunny Deol-starrer ‘Singh Saab The Great’ came to an end today with the Sikh high priests giving it a go-ahead after their meeting here.

Following the meeting at the Akal Takht Secretariat, Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh said they had cleared the movie after the filmmaker changed its name by using ‘Singh Saab’ instead of ‘Singh Sahib’ in the title.

The compromise was reached at this morning following mediation by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) member from Maharashtra, Gurinder Singh Bawa, who facilitated the talk between the Akal Takht Jathedar and the filmmaker. The latter agreed to change the name and also sent a fax about it.

Interestingly, the film’s posters put up in the city prior to the Sikh clergy’s meeting already mentioned the title as ‘Singh Saab The Great’. When mediapersons told the Jathedar that it was already ‘Singh Saab’ in the title, he denied it and claimed it was earlier ‘Singh Sahib’, a term which is used to address the Sikh high priests and the ‘granthis’ of Sri Harmandar Sahib, Amritsar.

Later, the cinema owners too met the Sikh high priests and intimated the latter that they had already deleted the title of the movie while screening it. They also urged the Sikh clergy to intimate them in advance whenever they had an objection against any movie.

Prior to it, activists of the International Sikh Organisation led by Kanwarbir Singh Gill reached various malls in the morning to stop the screening of the film. The protesters argued that the filmmaker should have changed the movie’s title.

Source: The Tribune