Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar urge the Bollywood film industry to support 'Padmavati'

Bollywood celebrities have come out in full support of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film 'Padmavati' after members of various political parties have condemned the film and threatened the makers. Actress Shabana Azmi and lyricist Javed Akhtar have called members of Bollywood to refuse to be “puppets in this game of electoral gain, divisive politics and polarisation” as the row over Padmavati turned uglier and blamed the BJP governments at the Centre and some states of not doing enough to handle the protests against the film.

“To me, it is a very sorry state of affairs. That it was in 2000, I think, when we were making the film 'Water' and after I had shaved off my head, the film had to be scrapped. We couldn’t make the film, nobody had read a single word of the script and they had decided that it was against Indian culture,” the actress said. “In 2017, we are facing the same thing with an even worse situation where there are people openly threatening to cut off Deepika Padukone’s nose, openly threatening that there is Rs 5-crore bounty on her head. If this is not criminal, what is? What is the government doing about it?” she asked.

“What can the film industry do? ... The people who are being honoured over there, whether it is Mr [Amitabh] Bachchan, or whoever it is there, should say we will not go to IFFI because until and unless you put these people who are making such statements behind bars, we are not going to come and do something which the government is doing in honour of the film industry,” the actress continued. When asked whether the film industry is succumbing to such forces, she stated, “No, we can’t rush to such conclusions ... See, it’s not a very easy situation. You have to understand that. There is a lot of money is riding on it. So, there is always this feeling that if a compromise is possible, then it is better.”

“My point to the film industry is that it is now or never. If we do not take a strong stand now, the situation will only get worse. The writing is clearly on the wall", she continued. Whereas Javed Akhtar stated, “the people who say they will eradicate terrorism, can’t ensure that a film is released.” He further added, “For discussion’s sake, even if one was to accept that somebody’s feelings have been hurt, that she was indeed a historical figure, and so on, what are we doing about it? Are you going to cut somebody’s nose or chop off somebody’s head? Is that how a civilised country will work?”

We wonder when this drama will come to an end. Stay tuned for more updates.

Credits: Hindustan Times