Pornstar turned Bollywood actor Sunny Leone has received support from women activists after Sikh leaders demanded removal of ‘Kaur’ title from her biopic Karenjit Kaur: The Untold Story of Sunny Leone.
This was after Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee raised objections on the use of “Kaur” in the title of the web series. Opposing the use of Kaur in the title of the film which premiered on Zee5 on July 16, Diljit Singh Bedi, SGPC’s additional secretary and spokesperson, said that the usage would hurt Sikh sentiments as Sunny did not follow the teachings of the Sikh gurus. Hence, she had no right to use the title Kaur, he told Times of India.
In Delhi, an Akali Dal MLA, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, urged the owner of Zee Group and BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP, Subhash Chandra, to drop the show in view of the loud protests, “.@subhashchandra Ji you might be taking “Kaur” word lightly in biopic series on the life of @SunnyLeone but Sikhs and Punjabis all across the world will not accept it easily. We demand removal of Kaur from the title or face consequence.”
Several women activists and lawyers opposed the demand calling it ‘rubbish.’ Kavita Krishnan wrote on Twitter, “Yo Yo Honey Singh can promote rape in his songs and still keep ‘Singh’ title but Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee says Sunny Leone biopic can’t refer to ‘Kaur’ title because, you know, porn, chhi chhi!.” Supreme Court lawyer Karuna Nundy wrote, “What utter rubbish. It’s @SunnyLeone’s name, not something this body endows, with or without its misogynist double standards.”
Actor Emraan Hashmi, tweeted the trailer of the biopic with the caption, “Check this one guys. @SunnyLeone like never before!! Congrats @adidatt on helming this awe-inspiring web series about #karenjitkaur.”
The actress, however, refused to comment on it, tweeting: “The next chapter of my life starts in a few days! Are you ready to take the journey with me through my eyes? #guiltyofdoingitmyway @ZEE5India @namahpictures @freshlimefilms @adidatt #karenjitkaur.”
Sunny, who made a successful transition from being a popular pornstar to Bollywood actress, shot to fame in India when she entered the Bigg Boss house as a contestant in 2011. She made her Bollywood debut with “Jism 2 in 2012.
She is now married to Daniel Weber and the couple has three children. They adopted a girl child Nisha in 2017. In March 2018, they had extended their family by including two more children — sons Noah and Asher — via surrogacy.
She had recently courted controversy for posing a seemingly naked photo with her adopted Indian daughter.
Sunny had earlier told IANS: “Initially, my answer (to a show on her life) was that I wasn’t sure. But once I started hearing about what the director and the production house wanted, I started having an interest in it.”
On what the audience should expect from the show, the Indo-Canadian talent had said: “The unexpected. This is a part of my life story and not necessarily the journey you are expecting to see.”
