The Karnataka High Court has accepted actor Ranveer Singh’s unconditional apology in the Kantara mimicry case following a revised affidavit submitted by the actor on Saturday (April 25). Earlier, on April 10, Singh had told the High Court that he would sit with the complainant in the case and work with them on the language of the affidavit of apology. This was submitted after the complainant said that there was no genuine remorse expressed by the actor in the affidavit.
Taking note of the revised affidavit, the court orally indicated that it will be disposing of the matter, Live Law reported. It has also directed Singh to visit the Chamundeshwari temple in Mysore in the next four weeks.
The court was hearing the actor’s plea to quash an FIR registered against him over his mimicry of Rishab Shetty’s character in the ‘Kantara: Chapter 1’ during the 56th IFFI Festival of India in Goa last year. Singh faced several backlash for hurting allegedly religious sentiments and referring to the Chamundeshwari temple deity as ‘female ghost’.
Singh, in his attempt to appreciate the movie, erroneously called the daivas, or demigods, depicted in Kantara: Chapter 1, ghosts. “I watched Kantara Chapter 1 in theatres, and Rishab, it was an outstanding performance, especially when the female ghost (Chamundi daiva) enters your body — that shot was amazing.”
He further mimicked Rishab Shetty’s performance of the daivas, an intrinsic part of the Bhoota Kola tradition from coastal Karnataka, earning ire from a Hindu outfit, one of whose members filed a complaint against the actor on grounds of disrespecting the daivas. Singh reportedly went to the Karnataka high court in February, requesting relief after the FIR.
His plea challenged an FIR registered on the complaint of an advocate, under Sections 196 (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 299 (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 302(Uttering words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings of any person) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023.