Sunny Leone can perform in Bengaluru but conditions apply, says Kannada activists

By: Express Web Desk | Bengaluru | Updated: September 26, 2018 12:13:37 am Sunny Leone will give three dance performances, including one on a Kannada song in Bengaluru.

Bollywood actor Sunny Leone is all set to give her first live performance at a concert in Bengaluru later this year. And, pro-Kannada activists seem to be already up in arms against her event.

A day after newspapers in the city reported the upcoming event, Kannada activists announced that they will hold a massive protest across the state demanding a total ban on the Bollywood star. However, now they have softened their stance, allowing Sunny to perform in the city but with one condition.

“We are not opposed to Sunny Leone performing in the city. She is free to come to the city and perform but we are insisting that in November, Kannada should be promoted,” Praveen Shetty, the chief of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, told The News Minute.

Last year, pro-Kannada and other fringe groups in Karnataka opposed Sunnys New Year night performance in Bengaluru accusing her of being a potential threat to Kannada culture. The controversy also found validation from the government. Then Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy even directed the police department to stop the actor from giving the performance.

“They have taken permission to conduct a programme. Let them hold cultural activities like music, or Bharatanatyam not this (Sunnys performance),” Ramalinga Reddy had said.

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Eventually, the controversy forced Sunny to back off, leading to the cancellation of the entire show.

Almost a year later, the same organizers have scheduled Sunny Leones performance in Bengaluru at the same venue. The event will take place on November 3 at the White Orchid hotel in Manyata Tech Park on Outer Ring Road. The organizers have revealed that the concert will be mainly led by musician Raghu Dixits performance and Sunny will give three dance performances, including one on a Kannada song.