SRK Trims ‘Billu Barber’ To ‘Billu’
To avoid further controversies, the King Khan aka the Bollywood legend Shahrukh Khan has decided to trim down the word “barber” from the title of his forthcoming home production movie ‘Billu Barber’ because of objection to the word “Barber” in the title by the Salon and Hair Dressers’ Association of Maharashtra.
The association said that “Barber” was not just an insulting term but also referred to a caste.
While talking to report persons, SRK said that his production house Red Chillies has decided to take away the word 'barber' from all the posters.
Hence, the film will be called ‘Billu’ only.
He said, “I understand the emotions and I respect. Instead of it becoming an issue where people are going to blacken out poster and give some sort of dissent or grief at cinema halls, film is not about that. We will try and remove the word 'Barber' from the posters.”
Khan said that members of Hairdressers and Saloon Association met him with their ‘genuine concerns’ over the use of the word ‘Barber’ and its Hindi translation ‘Hajaam’.
The actor also said that that he changed the title as he doesn’t want to invoke the anger of any group of people.
“These people feel the word hajaam (barber) that should not be there in the film. We would beep the word in the film, but I don''t think we can do anything about the music. Though the censor board has already cleared the film, we don't think we have shown them in wrong light. There is no point in releasing a film by hurting the sentiments of the people whose profession we are portraying in the film,” said King Khan.
Directed by Priyadarshan, ‘Billu Barber’ is slated for release around Valentine’s Day.
The film produced by SRK’s Red Chillies Entertainment stars Irrfan Khan and Lara Dutta. It also features guest appearances from Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif, making it a star-packed extravaganza.
The story of the movie ‘Billo Barber’ is supposed to be based on two childhood friends - a barber and a rich filmstar.
Inspired from the story of Lord Krishna and his best friend Sudama, Billo Barber is reported to be a remake of Malayalam film ‘Katha Parayumbol’.
While Shahrukh plays the role of a superstar, while Irrfan Khan will act as a barber, who comes to meet his friend after many years.
Lara essays the role of the wife of barber.