Filmmaker and actor Anurag Kashyap has landed in legal trouble after a court in Surat directed police to register a criminal case against him over his alleged remarks about the Brahmin community on social media.
The order was passed on Saturday by the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class A S Jani following a private complaint filed by lawyer and Vishva Hindu Parishad leader Kamlesh Raval. According to reports, the court observed that there appeared to be sufficient grounds to examine whether the filmmaker’s posts could have harmed the reputation of a particular community and contributed to social tension.
As part of the order, the court instructed authorities to register a case under sections related to promoting hostility between groups, intentional insult aimed at disturbing public peace, and circulation of allegedly misleading information.
The complaint was filed by Raval, who belongs to the Brahmin community and alleged that Kashyap’s posts on X contained objectionable comments targeting Brahmins. According to the complaint, the controversy began after the filmmaker reacted to criticism surrounding the trailer launch of the Hindi film Phule in April last year.
The complainant claimed that Kashyap not only posted comments viewed as offensive but also continued making remarks while responding to users who opposed his views online. It was further alleged that the posts insulted the wider Brahmin community and had the potential to create division between social groups.
In the complaint submitted before the court, Raval reportedly argued that public figures like Kashyap hold significant influence because of their work in cinema and entertainment. The complaint stated that actors and filmmakers are widely followed by audiences across age groups, making their public statements highly impactful.
The plea also referred to an older social media post allegedly made by Kashyap in January 2020, where he had criticised the Union government and used terms that the complainant described as objectionable towards Hindus.
Reports further stated that several notices and summons had earlier been issued to the filmmaker in connection with the matter. However, according to the complainant, Kashyap did not respond to them, following which a non-bailable warrant was reportedly issued against him.
As of now, Anurag Kashyap has not publicly reacted to the latest court order.
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