Richa Chadha slammed after poster of ‘Madam Chief Minister’, movie loosely based on Mayawati, shows lead holding a broom

Bollywood actress Richa Chadha is on the dock after sharing a poster from her new film ‘Madam Chief Minister’ loosely based on the life of BSP supremo Mayawati. The movie is set to release on the 22nd of January. The movie is a “political drama about an ‘untouchable’ who hustles and makes it big in life!”

https://twitter.com/RichaChadha/status/1345968938589437953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Contrary to expectations of the filmmaker, perhaps, the poster is facing intense criticism for the manner in which Mayawati has been portrayed. She is shown holding a broom which, as people on social media have pointed, was perceived to be a derogatory manner of depicting a Dalit leader.

https://twitter.com/ElektraWintuor/status/1346075756011474944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/augustkrantii_/status/1346361475196043264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Some have commented that people such as Richa Chadha and Swara Bhasker are ‘more dangerous’ than ‘Sanghis’.

https://twitter.com/Bhaujan_connect/status/1346144606619017216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/invincisachin/status/1346073319477415938?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The movie poster was also accused of being ‘casteist’.

https://twitter.com/kodunthamizhan/status/1346092693022154752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Others have commented that ‘UCs’ (so called Upper Castes) cannot be expected to make accurate movies about ‘struggles of Dalits’. They also called for more Dalit representation in Bollywood.

https://twitter.com/iamdaddymarx/status/1346074021494853632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/jungleegulmohar/status/1346063468579852290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/kochikamikaze/status/1346044275679612928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Madam Chief Minister has been directed by Subhash Kapoor and features Richa Chadha in the lead role. The movie was officially announced in February 2020 and is set to hit the theatres in January 2021. Despite the criticism on social media, other members of the Bollywood fraternity such as Tapsee Pannu have hailed the work. The movie also stars Akshay Oberoi and Shubhrajyoti.