It’s easy to call me a Modi Bhakt: Anupam Kher

October 16, 2015

Mumbai, Oct 16: Actor Anupam Kher’s view about politics being the motivation behind writers returning their Sahitya Akademi awards to register their protest against growing intolerance towards liberals, has met with a backlash lately. But the actor does not seem to mind.

anupam

The 60-year-old says that his intention of speaking up was never to get anyone to agree with him. “I did not speak up to get a reaction from people. I spoke as I strongly felt about it. It is easy for trolls to tag me as a Modi (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) bhakt. But if you see my career, I have always spoken up about things that I believe in.”

Kher says that this is not the first time that something like this has happened. “These writers got the awards many years ago and for all these years they have not noticed that something wrong is happening in the country and then suddenly they discover that we are going through the dark ages! We have seen worse periods. We have gone through Emergency (1975), that was the darkest period of independent India, the Muzaffarnagar riots — those were the dark areas. Why did they not return their awards then? Why should this be dark? Today, we are flourishing. There is amazing progress happening around us. Our Prime Minister has managed to get India on the global level,” he says.

On the point about the protesting writers claiming that they no freedom of expression, Kher says, “They obviously have the freedom because they are talking freely on news channels. If their freedom was curtailed, they would not be sitting and criticising the Prime Minister on national television. This is the biggest contradiction in itself.”

Kher then goes on to say, “The question is that people don’t like to leave their comfort zone and get into a controversy. I feel that these are the people who embarrass us internationally and go out and speak about our internal matters. I have heard author Arundhati Roy’s speeches abroad and it is disgusting the way she speaks about India, poverty, and the Prime Minister. No other citizen of any other country will go to another country and talk so badly.”

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 16,2020

New Delhi, Apr 16: Actor Salman Khan on Thursday put out a sharp message to the "jokers" who were flouting government-imposed guidelines and venturing out during the ongoing lockdown, putting at risk countless lives to the deadly coronavirus.

In his characteristic 'Bhai' style, Salman also appealed to people to not attack doctors, nurses and police personnel who are in the frontline of the battle against COVID-19.

In a 10-minute hard hitting video shared on Instagram he begins with a "Hello, namaste, salaam, sasriyakaal, Kem Cho' in typical TV reality show 'Big Boss' style and goes on to say 'Zindagi ka Bigg Boss' has begun with the entire country staying in lockdown mode at home.
He said he had taken a two-day "chhutti" (leave) but "This corona, COVID-19 has given everyone a 'chutti'."

Khan said he was staying at his farmhouse in Panvel near Mumbai with his family including his mother, two sisters their children and some other people who had come to visit.

In the video he said that he had sent a friend to get rations for the family from a village around five kilometres away. He recounted that the police stopped him and in the process, his friend took off the mask to speak to the policeman who reprimanded him and asked him to put the mask back on. Salman said that he too chided his friend for doing such a thing.

"Don't go out, don't do social gatherings, stay with your family, the government has said if you are doing namaaz, do it at home, do pooja at home..." the actor said, adding that those who had a wish to kill their families should step out.
"Go out get your ration, nobody is stopping you, go nearby but wear your masks, your gloves, go alone," the actor said underlining that the government has assured that everybody will get ration.

The actor said that whoever does not understand a coronavirus positive patient's pain is anti-human.

He pointed out that doctors, nurses and policemen are putting in long hours to curb the spread of coronavirus and urged people to respect their work and stay inside.

The actor said policemen would not have taken action and hit people if they followed guidelines and stayed inside. "If you weren't going out with friends, police wouldn't have hit you. Do you think police are enjoying it?," he asked.

"Doctors and nurses are working to save your lives and what do you do? You started pelting stones at them? Those who have been diagnosed with coronavirus, are running away from the hospitals. Where are you running? Towards life or death?," he questioned in his video.

The 'Dabangg 2' star appreciated the efforts by the frontline warriors and said, "the virus that started in China is over in China now, but because of a few jokers, the whole of India will sit at home for a long time."

The 54-year-old star said that he was aware of many people who wouldn't come out of their homes earlier but have started doing so since they've been asked to not go out.

"You are putting everyone's lives at risk," the Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor said.

Salman concluded by urging people to respect the work of the doctors, nurses, police personnel and those who work in banks, take care to ensure that the disease does not spread further and pray that it does not come to a situation where the military has to be called in to stop people from doing the wrong thing.

Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri took to Twitter to shared the video message. "Very well said @BeingSalmanKhan I hope wisdom prevails everywhere," he tweeted.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 22,2020

New Delhi, Jun 22: Musician Madonna, who is a mother of six, wished herself on the occasion of Father's Day on Sunday by posting adorable pictures with her kids.

Along with pictures, the 'Crazy For You' singer penned down a beautiful caption, wishing herself and every parent a 'Happy Father's Day' for nurturing and guiding their children in the best way possible.

"Happy Fathers Day to Me and to every parent out there doing their best to Nurture, Guide, Inspire, and Teach! #Lola #Rocco #David #Mercyjames #Estere #Stella," the 61-year-old singer wrote in the caption.

Madonna is the biological mother to two of her six children and has adopted the rest four.

She had adopted her first child Davida Banda back in 2006 and then she adopted a boy in 2009. The last addition to her family were the twins she adopted from Malawi.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
June 15,2020

Mumbai, Jun 15: Actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death has reignited the discussions around the struggle of survival in Bollywood, with many insiders highlighting "cruel and unforgiving" nature of the industry, particularly tough on outsiders.

Rajput was found hanging in his Bandra apartment on Sunday.

According to a police official, Mumbai Police found out during the probe that the 34-year-old actor was under medication for depression.

An engineering student, Rajput left his course at the Delhi Technological University in the early 2000s and rose from a background dancer to a TV star with soap opera Pavitra Rishta, which gave the "outsider" his breakout show in 2009.

In 2013, he made his Bollywood debut with Kai Po Che! and went on to star in films such as Shuddh Desi Romance, Raabta, Kedarnath, Sonchiriya and Chhichhore.

But his most prominent role came as cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni's in the 2007 biopic, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story.

In a telling tweet, veteran actor Dharmendra wrote despite not knowing Rajput personally, his death served as a reminder that the industry could be "cruel".

"Pyaare Sushant, naa film dekhi na kabhi mila tum se... par tere achaanak chale jaane se bada sadma laga. This beautiful beloved 'show business" is very cruel. I can imagine your unbearable pain. I share the pain of your loving family and friends," Dharmendra wrote.

Actor Meera Chopra penned a powerful, poignant note about the loneliness one feels working in an industry, which is "cold and ruthless".

"We all knew well that Sushant was going through depression since long, but what did we do? Where was his close circle, the directors and producers he's worked with, his close friends? Why nobody came out and helped, gave him the kind of love, the work that he wanted - because nobody cares," she wrote on Twitter.

The Section 375 actor, who has been vocal about feeling suffocated by the constant judgement from the industry colleagues, said nobody in Bollywood cares about what one's going through and artistes are just a flop away from being alienated.

Chopra said the industry has "failed" Rajput and Bollywood will now never be the same.

"True, Bollywood is a small family, but a kind of family which is never there when you need them. He had to take his life for that family to realise the kind of pain and need he was in. An outsider will always feel like an outsider here.

"I just want to say to my industry that help people when they need it, and you know when they need it. There is no point tweeting when they are no more. Don't pretend to be sad when you guys didn't do anything when he was sad. Stop being such a hypocritical society," she added.

Gulshan Devaiah said, as an actor, one could understand why Rajput would've taken the step to end his life.

"As actors, somewhere deep down inside, we think we know why he did it and that’s why it so disturbing even if you didn’t know him at all. It’s a hard game to play and he played it very well but the game won in the end," Devaiah wrote.

Quoting Chopra's tweet, the Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota star dismissed the idea of Bollywood being a family.

"If one thinks it’s a family, there is the problem. Bollywood is an imaginary name for a place of work, that’s it. I am really not trying to put anybody down here and sorry if it seems," he wrote.

On Sunday, actor-producer Nikhil Dwivedi posted a strongly-worded tweet calling out the "hypocrisy" of the industry after people from the film fraternity wrote they regretted not staying in touch with the "Chhichhore" star.

"High and mighty announcing they should have kept in touch with Sushant. Come on, you didn't! And that's because his career dipped. So STFU! Are you in touch with Imran Khan, Abhay Deol and others? No! But you were, when they were doing well," Dwivedi said.

Similar sentiment was echoed by filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, who, without taking names, said the "Bollywood Privilege Club" must sit down and think hard.

"Now don't ask me to elaborate any further," he tweeted.

Addressing outsiders, filmmaker Hansal Mehta wrote a long thread about the two ends of an artiste's time in the industry - the glorious successes and the crushing lows.

"There are many young 'outsiders' in this industry. Remember this - there is an establishment that will make you feel like the next big thing until they need you. They will drop you and mock you as soon as you falter. Do not fall for the trap. The ones that celebrate you will celebrate your downfall some time later," he tweeted.

Mehta said it's important for those who don't come from a film family to not force themselves to fit in.

"Just be authentic, follow your heart and stop seeking acceptance from anybody. Your connection should be with your art, your craft and with your audience. Nothing else matters. Over the years you will succeed, you will stumble.

"But remember that nothing is more important than you. Look after yourself. And know that you matter. The world is much bigger and wiser than what you perceive. So are opportunities. If you stay they will be yours. Lots of love. Never lose heart," the filmmaker wrote.

Celebrity hairstylist-turned-director Sapna Bhavnani claimed that Rajput's battle with mental health was out in the open and yet the industry chose to look the other way.

"It’s no secret Sushant was going through very tough times for the last few years. No one in the industry stood up for him nor did they lend a helping hand. To tweet today is the biggest display of how shallow the industry really is. No one here is your friend," she wrote on Twitter.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.