TNN
 
Ludhiana, Oct 3: Angered by the soaring list of film shootings at the Golden Temple, the most revered shrine of the Sikhs, priests have said the gurdwara co uld soon be put out of bounds for most of Bollywood.

The development comes days after Shah Rukh Khan shot for his film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi at Harmandir Sahib.

"Everybody wants to shoot at the Golden Temple," an angry Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) president Avtar Singh Makkar complained on Wednesday. "They (the film crew) make it inconvenient for the devotees and just don’t care about maryada."

"We have decided to be more wary and circumspect in granting permission to film crews for shoots at the Golden Temple," said SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar. "Only those films or programmes that help the Sikh cause will be allowed to be shot inside the Harmandir Sahib," he added.

The SGPC's announcement on keeping the temple out of bounds for film crew has shocked Bollywood. Film-maker and cinematographer Manmohan Singh said, "How can they do that? There's only one Golden Temple and one can only go there and shoot. The SGPC needs to rethink this. At the most, it can frame guidelines for people like us."

Speaking to TOI from London, Vipul Shah, the maker of 'Namaste London', said, "It's a pious place and we respect the teachings of Sikhism. But there has to be some way out of this so that directors are allowed to shoot. The SGPC, though, can set guidelines. A committee can perhaps be set up to devise a strategy. Our purpose is to showcase the opulence of the temple, so that non-Sikhs also get to know about Punjabi culture."

Award-winning director Madhur Bhandarkar, too, is not amused. "There has to be a solution to this. Maybe they can earmark some spaces for shoots along with specific days on which to do so," he said. On the complaint relating tomaryada, he said, "There can be no compromises on that. Only those who provide an assurance that the shoot will take place in accordance with norms should be allowed."

Director Satish Kaushik, for whom Punjab is a favourite theme as well as a location ground, said banning shoots at the Golden Temple would not solve the problem. "Shooting at the gurdwara is a different experience altogether," he said.

While actor-turned-politician Dara Singh said the SGPC could perhaps have scripts read to them for approval, director Aaditya Bhatt said, "I was also planning to shoot at the Golden Temple. Let's see what happens now. The SGPC could make the process more stringent rather than imposing an outright ban."

The SGPC's reservations, which could derail the plans of a host of Bollywood directors intending to shoot at the picturesque gurdwara, may have been triggered by Raj Kanwar's Sadiyaan, starring Rekha and Rishi Kapoor, getting into the crosshairs of the priests. During the shooting of the film in March, the SGPC had taken exception to a scene in which the leading actress is shown feeding prasad to her co-star. Offended, the temple management had ordered the director to scrap the scene.