Sand artist condemns protest against 'MNIK'

On the beaches of Puri, the sands did some talking as artist Sudarsan Pattnaik Wednesday created a sculpture to condemn Shiv Sena attempts to disrupt the screening of Shah Rukh Khan's upcoming movie 'My Name Is Khan' (MNIK).

He and his students sculpted out of sand a 30-foot long film reel, images of Bollywood city Mumbai and a cricket bat on the beaches of Puri, some 56 km from here. The sculpture took seven hours to make and bore the message, 'Don't blame players and artists'.

'I condemn the protest against Shah Rukh and against his film 'My Name Is Khan',' Pattnaik, who has won many national and international awards for his art, told reporters.

'Please do not target artists and players. We will gain nothing from it,' he said. He hoped the artwork would appeal to people to refrain from such acts.

The much-awaited Shah Rukh film, slated for a global release Feb 12, is facing threats from the Bajrang Dal and the Shiv Sena. Sena activists Tuesday attacked some theatres in Mumbai where the film is to be screened to protest Shah Rukh's remarks against the exclusion of Pakistani players from the Indian Premier League.

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