Why So Silent?

ACTORS HAVE A HISTORY OF FLIRTING WITH POLITICS, BUT THEY OFTEN STAY SILENT ON ISSUES THAT MATTER THE MOST. WHY THIS HYPOCRISY?

Actors Akshay Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher and the likes, who love to voice their opinion on social issues stand exposed — they talk only when it suits their interests and it’s not against the BJP government. In other words hypocrites!

The fuel price hike is currently a burning issue across all sections of society, but these stalwarts, who were the first to criticise the price hike during the previous

UPA regime, are all mum. Akshay Kumar has even deleted his earlier tweet and twitterati has exposed his double standards.

Akshay’s tweet in 2012, which he has deleted now, said: “Guys, I think it’s time to clean up your bicycles and hit the road! As per sources, expecting another petrol price hike.”

Amitabh Bachchan too is no different. He’s the brand ambassador of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, and yet not a word condemning the recent brutal rapes of young women. He tweeted an open letter to his grand daughters, which later everyone realised was to indirectly help promote his film Pink. His latest tweet now: ‘ Daughters be the best’, has a picture of him with daughter Shweta Bachchan Nanda and it’s a new brand that the two are endorsing!

Again, the agenda seems to be selfpromotion.

Anupam Kher is very clear he’s a BJP bhakt and will hit out only when it suits the BJP.

Aamir Khan tried once to be critical of the BJP agenda and then quietly backed off after the wave of criticism he and wife Kiran Rao faced.

So don’t take our Bollywood superstars at face value. They fight not for the general public but for their own cause. Shaina NC, the BJP spokesperson from Mumbai says, “Their ( actors) reach and visibility is huge, and that’s why a lot of people respond to them. We as a society need to realise that we can’t be glamour struck because politics is a very serious space. So, we should not generalise that every comment made by a politician- filmstar is sensible or vice versa. But, actors should take a stand. They must make a statement. After all, they are citizens like you and me.”

DON’T BE NEUTRAL

Mohan Raman, stage and TV actor from Tamil Nadu, says, “I think it is absolutely alright for actors to take sides or keep mum as individuals. Like everybody else, they too are citizens of India and are allowed to have different political colours. It’s okay for a film star to express his or her personal views. As long as they don’t say that they have a neutral stand, I feel it’s fine to support who they want.”

IT’S WHOM YOU SUPPORT

Sriram Karri, novelist explains, “I think most people are more ‘ party’ inclined than being inclined towards values. You get something for standing for other people. Akshay Kumar deleting his tweet is not hypocrisy, it is reduction of all politics to people’s terms; and a conclusion that lets me speak when it suits my party, and remain silent when it does not; usually when my side is wrong. Those in power too have reduced others’ choices with the dictum — if you are not with us, you are against us.”

ON AMITABH BACHCHAN

“There is a saying about people like Amitabh Bachchan, ‘ Too fat to run and too cowardly to fight’ — which means a man wouldn’t stand and fight, but he is too fat to run away. Amitabh has been the brand ambassador of such convenience for decades. He likes to say in his beautiful voice what someone else has written for him. He conveniently keeps quiet when the situation doesn’t suit his politics. But the politics of silence is very dangerous. These people are behaving like those legends in

Mahabharata, who chose to keep mum while Duryodhana dishonoured Draupadi — their silence while condoning evil was their worst sin. It is very sad that the most beautiful voice of India has nothing to say,” rues Sriram.

Actors should take a stand. They must make a statement. After all, they are citizens like you and me — SHAINA NC

I think most people are more ‘ party’ inclined than being inclined towards values. You get something for standing for other people. Akshay Kumar deleting his tweet is not mere hypocrisy, it is reduction of all politics to people’s terms — SRIRAM KARRI

It’s okay for a film star to express his or her own personal view. As long as they don’t say that they have a neutral stand, I feel that it’s fine to support who they want — MOHAN RAMAN