Filmmakers speak out against communal comments made on Aamir Khan’s Mahabharat

A tweet from a Frenchman has sparked off a massive outrage in the Indian entertainment industry. The tweet questions Aamir Khan’s right to play Lord Krishna in the actor’s proposed screen version of the Mahabharat.

Taking umbrage, and rightly so, is poet thinker secular-extraordinaire Javed Akhtar who has reminded this Frenchman (is he really French or is it is just a case of monsieur ke French beard mein tinka?) of how free of communal considerations popular art has always been in our cinema.

Javed saab is right.

Since when has religion become a deciding factor in the selection of an actor? Some argue that the cultural conditioning and religious beliefs of an actor are important determining factors in his or her character transmutation. By that reasoning Hitler must only be played by German Nazis when in fact I don’t think he has ever been played by an actual Nazi.

And who can play Mahatma Gandhi better than Ben Kinglsey? Is Kingsley a Hindu? Does anyone care?

Efforts to communalize art must be severely discouraged. Today they are saying Aamir Khan can’t play Lord Krishna. Tomorrow they will say Ranveer Singh can’t play Khilji or Deepika Padukone can’t play Mastani. Are we first supposed to go through an actor’s religious and cultural background before declaring him culturally fit to play a character?

Bollywood has always remained immune to cultural and religious identification.

For years Pradeep Kumar and Mala Sinha starred in the movies as Muslim nawabs and beghums, so much so that they were taken to be Muslim in real life.

Recalls the veteran actress Mala Sinha, “After I did Dharmputra Jahan Ara, Mere Huzoor I was frequently mistaken to be a Muslim. And this was no issue at all. I remember Meena Kumariji was taken to be a devout Hindu woman since she played one in so many films. We are actors. We never restricted our range of characters on the grounds of religion or culture.”

When did communalism creep into cinema?

It’s hard to say. Just the other day we applauded Salman Khan for playing Bajrangi Bhaijaan although there were murmurs against Salman Khan playing a Hanuman bhakt. We didn’t hear Hanumanji object, though.

Salman remains the most exemplary figure of secular values in Bollywood. His father is Muslim, his mother is a Hindu and former actress Helen whom Salman considers a second mother is a Christian.

The entertainment business in India has always been spoilt for choices as far as the potential to assume nationalities and religious flavours are concerned. So where did this horrific misgiving about Aamir Khan doing Mahabharat come from?

Javed Akhtar whose series of angry tweets on a French journalist’s comment on Aamir Khan being unsuited to do the Mahabharat says, “I’ve always maintained that religion is non-applicable to my life. In fact in the column devoted to religion in all government forms I state ‘non-applicable. My son Farhan follows the same policy. And his children will follow the same. I abhor those who try to divide our society and the entertainment industry on religious grounds.”

Adds Hansal Mehta, “We are always going to pay the price for our fear, passivity and subservience to whoever rules us and whatever ideology they espouse.” Industry spokesperson Ashoke Pandit has the last word. “Bollywood can never be communalised. Anyone who tried before this flopped.

It’s a profession where such thoughts never arise.

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri finds the French journalist’s contention regarding Aamir Khan’s Mahabharata plans to be absurd. “This is stupid. Acting is a profession and any discriminatory thought based on caste, religion, region, colour etc. must not be tolerated by the award and influencers of the society. They must write/speak against such bigotry.

Problem is everyone in the film industry is quiet.

Aamir is not just any other actor. His contribution to Indian entertainment industry is unparalleled. He has taken India’s prestige to the highest lever at Oscars. He has told some amazing Indian stories. He has changed the way Bollywood worked, technically and creatively. He introduced modern production techniques. He is a one man industry. I salute him for making Mahabharata. Shouldn’t all those directors, writers, producers and actors speak up – at least the ones whose careers he has made. By keeping quiet they think they will become a part of a controversy. But by being silent they are also contributing and encouraging to such bigotry.”