Manmarziyaan row: Taapsee Pannu and Anurag Kashyap blast trolls on forced cuts, Abhishek Bachchan has a different takeSep 22 (AZINS) While Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal and the director of Manmarziyan Anurag Kashyap are upset about the forced cuts made on their film, and are protesting about the same online, actor Abhishek Bachchan has defended the decision of the makers to delete three scenes and said the sequences did not impact the story anyway.

The scenes in question featuring Abhishek Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu smoking had upset a certain section of the Sikh community, following which they were omitted from the film.

When asked about the issue, Abhishek said, "Each individual is allowed to react the way they have, and they want to. It's their personal opinion. For me, it's not a big deal. My film isn't about anyone smoking, I have no problem cutting that out if someone has taken objection to it."

The actor stressed that the intention of the makers was not to hurt anyone.

"The intention of the makers is not to upset any community or ruffle any feathers. We just wanted to make a nice love story and that's what the film is about. If by cutting out one or two shots if it's going to placate someone and make them feel better, I've no problem doing that."

Abhishek was in conversation with journalist Mayank Shekhar at the Jagran Cinema Summit where he talked about the same.

When asked if the move sets a bad precedent, the actor said one has to look at the issue in totality.

"You have to look at why and who is objecting, what's the purpose behind the objection. If that's genuine, look into it genuinely and address it... You need to ask who's the loser here? In the situation like we are in right now, it's the exhibitors."

The actor said so many people down the cinema chain would stand to lose money if one sat on their 'ego' over certain scenes.

"If there is an objection or a protest, a cinema hall might get vandalised, shows of the exhibitors might get cancelled and that person is going to lose money. If you say it's a bad precedent, please underwrite all the loses that people down the chain are going to face. I'll stand by you," the actor said.

"That's my industry as well and I've got to think about that. Those one or two shots aren't going to change the story, so take it out. If it's changing the narrative or the reason why I'm making the film, then no. Like in Udta Punjab. But here, I'm not going to sit on my ego for three basic shots, which might affect the exhibitors," he added.

The controversy began on Wednesday, when Anurag Kashyap wrote that he would not be removing any scenes from his film Manmarziyan, against which an official complaint had been filed for allegedly hurting Sikh sentiments.

The filmmaker said that it was technologically impossible for a film to be edited after release. However, the distributors, Eros, had other plans. Without the director’s approval they went ahead and removed certain scenes from the film.

Throughout all this, Anurag had support from Taapsee, who has been on a Twitter rampage against trolls. While Vicky hasn’t overtly made any statement, he jumped to Taapsee’s defence when one Twitter user threatened to beat her with a belt. Even actor Arjun Kapoor chimed in with support for Taapsee, and said that no religion supports violence.

Manmarziyan has received positive reviews, with its three leads’- Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu and Vicky Kaushal's performances being highly praised.

The film has made over Rs 20 crore at the box office in one week of release. Also, it should be noted that the film had been approved by the Central Board of Film Certification with the necessary anti-smoking disclaimers on screen.