Bhumi Pednekar apologizes over marital rape joke in 'Pati Patni..'

Midway through the trailer, the protagonist Chintu Tyagi, played by Kartik Aaryan, rants about his sex life to his friend, and in the process, makes mockery of marital rape.

"Biwi se sex maang lein toh hum bikhaari. Biwi ko sex na de toh hum atyachaari. Aur kisi tarah jugaad laga ke usse sex haasil kar lena toh balaatkari bhi hum hai," he says.

In response to the flak, Bhumi, who plays Kartik's wife in the movie, has now apologized over the insensitive dialog.

"If we have hurt anybody's sentiments, we are sorry, because that wasn't the intention," Bhumi said in an interview with Zoom.

"But everybody who is involved in Pati Patni.., does not belong to that school, does not belong to that thought process," she said.

Further defending the movie's team and herself, Bhumi said, "Mudassar (the director) has always celebrated women. My films say a lot about what I feel about my gender and what I'm trying to do. We are constantly working toward reducing the gender gap."

Meanwhile, reports suggest that the said monologue will be edited out, and shall not be a part of the final film.

Directed by Mudassar Aziz, Pati Patni Aur Woh is a romantic-comedy movie, portraying the life of a middle-class man and a philandering husband (Kartik) who juggles his relationships with his wife (Bhumi) and girlfriend (Ananya Panday).

The movie is based on an eponymous 1978 film, starring Sanjeev Kumar, Vidya Sinha, Ranjeeta Kaur.

Releasing on December 6, it will clash with Ashutosh Gowariker's period-drama Panipat.

Meanwhile, Bhumi starrer comedy drama Bala will be released tomorrow.

Directed by Amar Kaushik (Stree), Bala portrays the story of a young man in his 20s (Ayushmann Khurrana), suffering from premature balding (alopecia), and how the condition affects his daily life.

The movie also stars Yami Gautam, Saurabh Shukla, Javed Jaffrey, Seema Pahwa and Abhishek Banerjee in pivotal roles.