Since October 28, a video has been going viral about an altercation that had happened in a multiplex in Bengaluru. The incident took place after a group of friends accosted a family for not standing when the National Anthem was being played before the screening. Although the Supreme Court has not made it mandatory to play the National Anthem in theatres, most of the major theatre chains continue to do so in lieu with the nationalist fervour. Bengaluru: Kannada Actor Arun Gowda, His Friends Rebuke Moviegoers For Not Standing During National Anthem, Call Them 'Pakistani'.

Returning back to the incident, one of the group members was Kannada actor Arun Gowda who also took the video of the argument and posted it on social media. In the video, we can hear him and his friends call the family as 'Pakistani Terrorists' and asking them to respect the soldiers standing at the border.

The video, that went viral on social media, once again stoked the debate of the significance of the national anthem being played before the movies. In the interim, Arun Gowda has been trending on social media for his involvement in the incident.

Watch The Video Below:

Later in an interview with The News Minute, Arun had this to say about the altercation, "How can they not care about the Army? We demanded that the four people must be removed from the theatre. They were eventually sent out."

Here is also a video of him talking about the incident posted on his Facebook timeline:

So who is Arun Gowda?

Arun Gowda is a popular actor from Kannada Cinema who has played roles in films like 3 Gante 30 Dina 30 Second, Pathibeku.com and Muddu Manase. He is also a part of Puneeth Rajkumar's Yuvarathnaa, having joined the shoot of the film in March 2019.

Arun Gowda with Puneeth Rajkumar after joining the sets of Yuvarathnaa

Interestingly, before the whole National Anthem row, Arun Gowda was involved in another major controversy a couple of years back. Gowda was arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB), along with some of his employees, for running an illegal hookah bar at his restaurant in Bengaluru. He was later released the same evening, but the actor had maintained that he was never arrested, instead, was only served notice for serving food in the hookah section.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 29, 2019 12:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).