Bollywood director Mani Ratnam has denied signing the letter sent to Prime Minister Modi by 49 personalities of the industry showing concern over increased cases of hate crimes, reports News 18.

Reportedly, Mani Ratnam’s team has denied him signing any letter or receiving any such letter. The team said that the director was occupied with pre-promotion of his upcoming film.

On 24 July, several personalities including filmmaker Aparna Sen, Anurag Kashyap and historian Ramachandra Guha had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing concern about the spate of mob lynchings.

"Regrettably 'Jai Shri Ram' has become a provocative 'war-cry' today that leads to law and order problems, and many lynchings take place in its name. It is shocking that so much violence should be perpetrated in the name of religion! These are not the Middle Ages! The name of Ram is sacred to many in the majority community of India. As the highest Executive of this country, you must put a stop to the name of Ram being defiled in this manner," the letter said.

Among the signatories, Mani Ratnam’s name was also spotted. However, his team has categorically denied any participation in the letter.

In response to this letter, more than 60 eminent personalities including actress Kangana Ranaut, lyricist Prasoon Joshi, classical dancer and MP Sonal Mansingh, instrumentalist Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, filmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar and Vivek Agnihotri wrote an open letter against “selective outrage and false narratives”.