A Kshatriya organisation on Monday objected to the teaser of the upcoming Hindi film Chauhaan, describing it as “irresponsible and disrespectful” for using a Rajput clan name as its title and alleging it could inflame caste and communal tensions.
The Kshatriya Parishad said it rejected any attempt to “weaponise Rajput history or appropriate Rajput identities for electoral or ideological purposes”.
The film, directed by Neeraj Yadav and starring Ajay Devgn, is scheduled for release on October 1, 2027. Its teaser features scenes set against a 2018 protest in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama and includes a voiceover by Devgn stating that pellet guns and water cannons caused only “limited damage” and were merely “temporary solutions” against stone-pelting protesters.
The narration further says an “answer is on its way” for the protesters after 75 years, adding: “tell the Pathaans: Chauhaan is coming”.
The teaser has drawn criticism on social media, particularly from Kashmiris, who challenged the portrayal of pellet guns as causing limited harm, pointing to thousands of injuries attributed to their use in Kashmir, especially between 2016 and 2019.
The Kshatriya Parishad also said it was regrettable that Rajput identity was “once again being dragged into a political narrative that Rajputs neither initiated nor sought”, arguing that the invocation of a clan name to generate controversy was inappropriate.
It added that the subcontinent’s history could not be reduced to “simplistic communal binaries”, citing instances in which Afghans and Rajputs fought alongside each other. “These episodes illustrate that medieval political alliances were shaped by statecraft, loyalty and military strategy — not by the communal narratives being imposed upon them today,” the organisation said.
Among those criticising the teaser on social media were Kashmiri political leaders. National Conference MP Ruhullah Mehdi said that while the teaser described pellet guns as ineffective, they had in reality caused extensive and lasting harm.
“Official figures acknowledge that over 6,200 people were injured by pellet guns during the 2016–17 unrest alone, including hundreds with devastating eye injuries,” the Srinagar MP said.
He added: “For those who lost their eyesight, those who still live with pellets lodged in their bodies, and the families who continue to bear those scars, this is not an action sequence or a cinematic backdrop. It is lived trauma.”
National Conference spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said the teaser contained material that could incite violence in Kashmir, adding: “Mocking children and young people who lost their eyesight, some even their life, and opening up old scars of their families is nothing short of a spiteful agenda against Kashmiris.”
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