The title of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming movie starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone has been changed from ‘Ram Leela’ to ‘Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela’.

The name of the movie has been changed post an order passed by the Delhi High Court on Wednesday (November 13, 2013) staying the release of the film. A petition was filed against the movie claiming that the movie would hurt the religious sentiments and also said that, since the term ‘Ram Leela’ is associated with Lord Ram, movie-goers would expect to be watching a religious film.

“It appears that some misinformation is being carried out regarding the said film (‘Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela’) which we would like to clarify and state that the said film is inspired and based on William Shakespeare's work ‘Romeo and Juliet’,” said Sanjay Leela Bhansali in a statement.

“The said film is neither related to Ramleela folklore/traditional performance associated with Lord Ram nor related to Rasleela associated with Lord Krishna. Ram, the character in the said film does not depict or resemble Lord Rama in any manner,” the statement added.

Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone spoke to popular daily NDTV after the stay order and they reinforced the point that the movie had nothing to do with Lord Rama.

“Through the years we've had love stories named after protagonists. Ram and Leela are common names. I think we focus on what we are here to do; no one wants the nuisance of signing vakaltnamas. We wouldn't in a thousand years think of resorting to such tactics for publicity. The buzz about the film went through the roof after the release of the first trailer, record number of hits on YouTube," Ranveer said.

“The film has nothing to do with Indian history. We have our censor certificate and there is no issue with the film. Films are made to entertain an audience and not to hurt anyone's sentiments. We're making a love story and not about anything else. It is a bit early to be reacting to something which people don't know about. I don't think we would intentionally give a controversial title for eyeballs. We are confident about the content of the movie," Deepika said.