Boos for Bollywood

The latest Bollywood project to keel over without a whimper, under pressure from religious fanatics, is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati. After thugs from the Shri Rajput Karni Sena assaulted him on his sets, Bhansali was the one giving assurances that nobody would be hurt by his film. You can’t stand in judgement over someone facing a threat; on the other hand, if nobody stands up to brainless intimidation, we can say goodbye to education, the arts, history, truth, creative innovation and individual rights. As Arpita Das posted on FB: “...if you (Bollywood) don’t speak up even now, it’ll establish you as the most spineless creative industry in India.”