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Although the film is based on a true story, several Sikh groups in India have made it very clear that they are unhappy with the initial screening of "Shootout at Lokhandwala," a film which they claim wrongfully portrays them as being terrorists.

According to Baldwinder Singh, GGS Circle Study coordinator from India, "[Scenes regarding Sikhs in the film] have not only tarnished the image of the community in the world but was also affecting the minds of the Sikh younger generation."  Organizations such as the GGS Circle Study, Sikh Missionary College, and representatives from Dal Khalsa all met last night and discussed the possibilities of having the screening of the film entirely banned through India's Central Government, and also urged all Sikh's to "bitterly oppose" the film. 

This is not the first issue the film and its director, Apoorva Lakhia, have encountered.  Being that the film is based on real life Indian gangster Maya Dolas (played by Vivek Oberoi), Dolas' real life mother, Ratnaprabha Dolas, previously filed a petition in Bombay's High Court to re- do the film for inaccurately portraying her son and family.  After reviewing the case, Bombay's High Court rejected the petition in May 2007.

"Shootout at Lokhandwala" is a true story, slightly fictionalized for the film and based on the life of Indian gangster Mahindra "Maya" Dolas, who in 1991 was cornered in Bombay's residential complex Lokhandwala by India's Anti-Terrorist Unit.  After a 4 hour standoff in which Maya and others refused to surrender, over 450 rounds of ammunition were exchanged between the police and Maya, which eventually led to his death, as well as 5 of his companions.