Why won’t our actors speak up like Streep?
Unlike politicians, we don’t have foot soldiers to protect us. When I spoke in favour of Pakistani artistes, I was called anti-national. MAHESH BHATT, FILM-MAKER Bollywood actors stay away from anything political fearing repercussions either from trolls or political outfits. HANSAL MEHTA, FILM-MAKER We in our film industry don’t even need to give a speech like Meryl Streep if we just start standing up with those who actually speak up. ANURAG KASHYAP, FILM-MAKER
Actor Meryl Streep’s (left) speech at this year’s Golden Globe Awards was lauded by many. In her brave address, Streep slammed US President-elect Donald Trump for his immigration policies, among other things. Following this, people in India have taken to social media to point out why Bollywood celebrities never speak up against politicians. “LOLing hard at all the Bollywood people who will say WHOA RESPECT MERYL STREEP, but won’t speak up against Raj Thackeray here (sic),” tweeted popular comedian Rohan Joshi. However, the film industry was quick to respond and said that unlike Streep, they don’t get support from any quarter when they speak out against politicians.
Film-maker Hansal Mehta, who hailed Streep as a “goddess” says, “Artistes from the film industry usually stay away from anything political fearing repercussions either from trolls or political outfits.” However, film-maker Pritish Nandy feels a celebrity does not have the “responsibility” to share his opinion in public. “You can’t force anyone to be vocal about politics,” he says. Musician and singer Rahul Ram says India is yet to reach that stage, where like in the US, celebrities can feel safe even after criticising politicians or policies of the government.