Richa Chadda, leading lady of this week’s release, Madam Chief Minister, issued a clarification to clear the air about the first poster of the film which had created a controversy as soon as it was released earlier this month. The film is loosely based on the life of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati. Its first poster showed Richa holding a broom in her hands. The broom was probably used to show that Richa’s character belonged to the Dalit community.
The poster was pulled down by the producers as soon as it came in the eye of a controversy as people objected to the stereotypical way of showing a Dalit girl. Some people even objected to the use of the word ‘untouchable’ in the poster. In the clarificatory note, Richa said that the film had been a learning experience for her. “The first poster that was released faced severe criticism, rightly so. What to me (and my privileged eyes) was a mere prop used by my character in a scene, came across as a stereotypical portrayal of Dalits for many of our people,” she said.
“They (producers) realised this inadvertent error and took this criticism in their stride,” explained Richa Chadda. “They responded immediately by retracting the objectionable poster and by releasing a new poster the very next day.
“It was a regrettable and a completely unintentional oversight, not a deliberate insinuation. We are sorry. Our heart is in the right place. Hopefully, you will see that for yourself when you watch the film,” the actress added.
Richa stressed that the team had honest intentions behind the movie and they all had contributed to it with love.