'Would Rather Talk Straight To PM Himself,' Says Director Anurag Kashyap

Director Anurag Kashyap has defended his tweets about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, choosing this time to share his opinion on Facebook.
In a post today, Mr Kashyap, whose films include Bombay Velvet and Dev-D, said that the film industry is "damned if we do, damned if we don't." The 44-year-old said that if Bollywood does not weigh in on political issues, it's accused of being spineless. But "when we involve ourselves, we become the scapegoat," he said.

On Sunday, Mr Kashyap in an array of tweets expressed his solidarity with filmmaker Karan Kohan, whose new film, "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" will not be released by a small group of theatre-owners in four states because it features Pakistani actor Fawad Khan. Mr Kashyap sarcastically tweeted, "we solve all our problems by blaming it on movies and banning it..." Some aggressive trolling followed.

Mr Kashyap said that Mr Johar was shooting his movie at the same time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise visit to Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad.

 "Neither was aware of future events or mood. Yet only one pays the price."

Mr Kashyap, 44, is among the section of Bollywood that is against a proposed ban on Pakistani artists, suggested by some political parties and a producers' association, who say that at a time when India is working to globally isolate Pakistan for terrorist attacks in other countries, cultural and artistic partnerships must be disconnected.

Writing that while the government has not called for this ban, Mr Kashyap said that his tweets were addressed to Mr Modi because "when the governing party's designated members don't respond in hours of crisis because they are second guessing the mood of the PM then I would rather talk straight to the PM himself."

Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has vowed to prevent Mr Johar's film from releasing in Mumbai on October 28, alluding to possible vandalism at theatres that screen it.  The Mumbai police has today assured the film's producers that adequate security will be provided, if it is needed.

Source: NDTV