The upcoming Nepali film '5 Pandav' has run into a storm of criticism ahead of its release, with critics on social media accusing the filmmakers of mocking religious figures from the Mahabharata, most prominently by portraying Draupadi as a bar dancer. The backlash intensified after the release of the film's trailer and its song 'Raja Chahiya Chha', which many described as an insult to religious faith, prompting demands for a boycott. The film has been promoted with actress Eva Giri in the role of Draupadi and is scheduled to reach theatres soon.

Outrage Builds After Trailer and Song Release

The controversy has grown alongside the film's promotional campaign, but it escalated sharply once the trailer and the song 'Raja Chahiya Chha' were made public. Material from the film circulating online drew immediate reactions from viewers who said the makers had crossed a line by reworking figures they regard as sacred into glamorous, modern-day avatars.

Criticism has concentrated on several points:

  • The portrayal of Draupadi, a central female figure of the Mahabharata, as a bar dancer.
  • The claim that the film mocks religious figures more broadly by recasting characters from the epic in a contemporary setting.
  • The song 'Raja Chahiya Chha', which many viewers interpreted as turning a revered character into an item-dance spectacle.
  • Perceptions that the film amounts to an insult to religious faith, leading some users to announce a boycott.

Calls to stay away from the film have spread across social media, where users have accused the makers of trampling on the sentiments of devotees for commercial effect. For many critics, the concern is not artistic license as such, but the sense that sacred characters have been used as a marketing hook.

Why the Draupadi Portrayal Has Proved So Sensitive

Much of the anger centres on the figure of Draupadi. In the Mahabharata, she is the wife of the five Pandava brothers, the characters from whom the film takes its title, and she is remembered in the epic as a figure of dignity, resolve and moral force. Her story, including her humiliation in the Kaurava court, is among the most emotionally charged episodes in the text, and she is held in deep reverence by devotees.

That reverence explains why the decision to present her as a bar dancer has been received as far more than a routine creative choice. Because the film's title signals its debt to the epic, audiences have judged its characters against their original counterparts, and the gap between the revered Draupadi of scripture and the version shown in the promotional material has become the flashpoint of the dispute.

The song 'Raja Chahiya Chha' has served as the immediate trigger. Viewers who watched the number saw in it a stylised, glamourised presentation of a character they believe should not be used in that way, and the song quickly became the focus of the wider campaign against the film.

Filmmakers Push Back: 'Not a Religious Film'

The film's team has responded directly to the criticism. In comments published by Nepal Press, the makers said that '5 Pandav' is not a religious film and that they did not make Draupadi from the Mahabharata perform an item dance.

The statement amounts to a two-part defense. First, the makers argue that the film should not be read as a retelling of the epic or as a portrayal of its sacred figures, despite the title and the names given to its characters. Second, they reject the specific accusation that their Draupadi has been reduced to an item dancer, insisting that the character seen on screen is not the Draupadi of the Mahabharata.

That clarification has become part of an ongoing debate rather than the end of it. As reported by Khabarhub, the backlash over the film's treatment of religious figures had already gathered momentum following the trailer and song, and the argument has continued to play out online as the release approaches.

A Release Under Scrutiny

The film remains scheduled for release soon, and its promoters have continued to publicise Eva Giri in the role of Draupadi, undeterred by the protests. That decision keeps the confrontation alive, since every new piece of promotional material risks renewing the anger that flared with the trailer and the song.

The episode underscores how contentious adaptations of religious material can be in Nepal, where characters such as those of the Mahabharata are treated by many not as fictional property but as objects of devotion. For '5 Pandav', the challenge in the days ahead will be to reach theatres and audiences while a vocal section of the public has already made up its mind against it. Whether the filmmakers' insistence that this is not a religious film persuades moviegoers, or whether the boycott calls hold sway, is likely to shape the film's reception from its opening day.