Amritsar, Punjab (November 22, 2013): Sunny Deol starrer Bollywood movie “Singh Sahib the great” was caught in controversy after the Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh had objected to the use of term “Singh Sahib”, a term most commonly used for Jathedars of the Sikh Takhts.
As per information the movie’s titled was changed from ‘Singh Sahib the Great’ as ‘Singh Saab the Great’. According to information available with the Sikh Siyasat News (SSN) the movie was cleared by Akal Takht Jathedar on November 22, 2013 evening after getting written confirmation about the change of name.
According to reports from Amritsar some groups of Sikh youth gathered in front of the cinema halls and multiplexes screening the movie on Nov. 22 and forced the management to stop.
Earlier on September 13, 2013 while objecting to the title of the movie the Jathedar of Akal Takht Giani Gurbachan Singh had said that the title “Singh Sahib” couldn’t be used by anyone but by the Jathedars of Akal Takht, Head Granthi and Granthis of the Darbar Sahib or by a person whom the title was bestowed upon by Akal Takht.
According to the Times of India (TOI), following protests by Sikh organizations including International Sikh Organization (ISO), the Jathedars of the Sikh Takhts held a meeting and announced their decision after receiving written confirmation about the change in the name of movie by the film producers.