New Delhi: Lyricist Javed Akhtar has courted controversy due to his remark in which he compared RSS with the Taliban. In retaliation, a section of the BJP has threatened that movies that are in any way connected with him will be boycotted.
However, this is not the first time that he or other Bollywood personalities have invited ire for voicing their opinion. Most often it has been the Khans who have been cornered for speaking their mind.
Let’s go back in time to see when something like this has happened before:
Aamir Khan
Aamir had said, at an event: “When I chat with Kiran at home, she says ‘should we move out of India?’ That’s a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make. She fears for her child. She fears about what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every day.”
This was in 2015. He was speaking in connection with the Dadri lynching incident.
Taking potshots at politicians, he said: “People who are our elected representatives, people who we select to look after us for five years, State or centre… when people take law into their hands, we look upon these people to take a strong stance, to make a strong statement, speed up the legal process, when we see that happening there is a sense of security but when we don’t see that happening there is a sense of insecurity.”
Shahrukh Khan
SRK had told a TV channel: “There is intolerance, there is extreme intolerance… there is, I think… there is growing intolerance. It is stupid to be intolerant and this is our biggest issue, not just an issue… Religious intolerance and not being secular in this country is the worst kind of crime that you can do as a patriot.”
Shah Rukh’s comment came in the wake of the ‘awards-waapsi’ controversy that was raging at that time.
Both Shahrukh and Aamir were severely criticised for their statements. SRK later claimed his comments had been misconstrued.
Naseeruddin Shah
In 2019, the veteran actor was branded anti-national because he expressed trepidation about the future of this country and, more specifically, his children.
“I feel anxious thinking about my children. Because they don’t have a religion. Tomorrow if a mob surrounds them and asks ‘Are you a Hindu or a Muslim’, they will have no answer. It worries me because I don’t see the situation improving anytime soon.”
Anurag Kashyap
Anurag Kashyap, who had gone off social media, announced his return to Twitter a day after because he could not remain silent at the sight of ‘horrifying visuals of students from Jamia Millia Islamia facing state-sanctioned brutalities’ at the hands of the Delhi police. Breaking from a self-imposed exile, Kashyap minced no words in calling the government fascist.
Ever since, Kashyap has been relentlessly criticising police excess, amplifying voices of protest, and has himself participated in one of the largest public demonstrations against the CAA, in Mumbai.
Javed Akhtar
On the burqa controversy in 2019, Javed Akhtar had reportedly said that he has no issues if it is a matter of security.
“Covering face may be a problem when it comes to security. If burqa is banned then, ghunghat too should be taken into account. What is the need of burqa or ghunghat?” Akhtar reportedly asked.
Salman Khan
Bollywood’s ‘Bhai’ irked the nation when he put forth his comments on the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai. In an interview with a Pakistani channel, he mentioned that the attacks were highlighted because they were targeted towards Mumbai’s rich and elite and because they took place at a prominent 5-star hotel in the city. He further added that such attacks have happened before but did not garner the same attention. Khan’s comments did not go down too well with the political parties, including Shiv Sena and the actor later apologised for his statements.
