‘CINEMA IS ALL ABOUT LOVE’
‘No matter what your language, ideology or country is, story-telling should be a familial experience which binds us together’, says SRK
PANAJI: Amid the raging Padmavati controversy as well as the row over exclusion of two films from a section of the 48th IFFI, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, through a mixture of symbolism and subtlety, spoke of cinema as a balm of love for dissent and a catalyst for unity, at the inauguration of the movie jamboree here. Shah Rukh spoke in the presence of Union Ministry for Information and Broadcasting Smriti Irani at the inaugural ceremony.
“There is a word in Sanskrit ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. It means bringing the world together like a family. I believe no matter what your language is, no matter what country your story comes from, and no matter what your ideology is, story-telling and listening should be a familial experience which binds us together.”
“It makes relationships stronger, even in the face of dissent and discussion as it usually happens in a family, instead of tearing us apart,” he said.
“I truly believe that films are made with the collaboration of hundreds of people coming together, working relentlessly for an idea they believe in and they love and they want share it with the world. This idea becomes the film which we all watch, and sometimes we feel very happy watching it,” said the actor, underlining the significance of love in the process of filmmaking.
“Sometimes, we dance along with the film. At other times, we get angry, disturbed or agitated. That exactly is the magic of storytelling, a magic which has the power to touch all our senses and in doing so, actually binding us together. The essence of storytelling is incomplete, if there is no story listener. And I believe that storytellers and story listeners are, or at least should be, like a family,” he said.
Shah Rukh’s subtle take on dissent came in wake of none-too-subtle comments by Padmavati actor Shahid Kapoor, who while speaking to the media on the sidelines of the event, came out strongly against protests groups lobbying to get the film banned.
This year, IFFI has been at the centre of a controversy as two movies – S Durga and Nude – were excluded from a jury-suggested list for the Indian Panorama section, when it was cleared by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The gala at Panaji will also pay homage to spy James Bond, in a special section, where nine films featuring the various leading actors who have essayed the iconic character, will be screened.