Deepika Padukone Cancels Chhapaak Promotions In Delhi Amid CAA Protests

Deepika Padukone and director Meghna Gulzar have canceled the promotions of her upcoming film, Chhapaak in Delhi because of the ongoing unrest in the national capital over Citizen (Amendment) Act. "We believe that it will be insensitive on our part to promote our film at a time when the nation and the city is going through an emotional upheaval and unrest. We pray for peace and harmony and regret the inconvenience caused by our absence but we hope you will understand,'' Padukone and Gulzar jointly issued a statement at a recent event.

Several parts of Delhi have erupted in protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act, and its aftermath. On Sunday, a police crackdown on Jamia Millia Islamia University students made universities across India and abroad stand up in solidarity. Tuesday saw protests in Delhi's Seelampur turning violent, with clashes between the police and residents of the area.

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Of Resilience. And Hope. Malti. And her untold story. Unveils before you. #Chhapaak in theatres from 10th Jan 2020. #AbLadnaHai @deepikapadukone @vikrantmassey87 @thelaxmiagarwal @toalokdixit @foxstarhindi @_kaproductions @mrigafilms

A post shared by Meghna Gulzar (@meghnagulzar) on Dec 10, 2019 at 2:55am PST

Chhapaak is based on the real-life story of Laxmi Aggarwal, who survived an acid attack in 2005 at the age of 15. The film also stars Vikrant Massey in an important role. While Deepika plays acid attack survivor Malti, while Vikrant plays the role of a journalist named Amol.

The trailer of Chhapaak was recently released at an event in Mumbai and recieved rave reviews from the audience. At a recent event, Deepika said until Chhapaak she thought doing a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film was emotionally difficult. "With him it's not just about the character or the film but everything that goes in making it, all the hurdles. So by the end of it you're exhausted for various reasons. "With 'Chhapaak', the process was exhausting. We had to get the prosthetics done for like three hours and another hour to take it off. Emotionally I have never been as burnt out as I felt after that," she said.

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Malti’s story... for us all to know. Her strength... for us to experience. @deepikapadukone @vikrantmassey87 @foxstarhindi @_kaproductions @mrigafilms

A post shared by Meghna Gulzar (@meghnagulzar) on Dec 14, 2019 at 9:36pm PST

Chhapaak, backed by Fox Star Studios, is scheduled to release on January 10, 2020.