Anurag Kashyap is why B'wood fails at politics
- Bollywood seems to have a fundamental inability to understand how things work
- Anurag picks on the PM, but is silent on the MNS, who actually called for the ban
FollowIs it too much to ask Bollywood, which loves to take up every cause, to actually fight the ones who do the deed, rather than - a'la Kejriwal - pick PM Modi has a 'one stop' for all blame?
Wading into the row over the ban on the release of films featuring Pakistani artistes due to tension between the two countries, film-maker Anurag Kashyap said on Sunday that when Indian film-makers are being penalised, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should also apologise for his Lahore trip.
“@narendramodi Sir you haven’t yet said sorry for your trip to meet the Pakistani PM.. It was dec 25th. Same time KJo was shooting ADHM? Why?” Mr. Kashyap wrote on Twitter.
“@narendramodi why is it that we have to face it while you can be silent?”
“@narendramodi and you actually diverted your trip on our tax money, while the film shot then was on money on which someone here pays interest,” Mr. Kashyap tweeted.
Ever since he has been rightfully trolled by all for this weird comment. To begin with, the Prime Minister did not ask for a ban on artists. In fact, it was the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) which is run by Raj Thackeray. Why Anurag did not address his complaints to them is left to the imagination, especially considering that both of them in Mumbai.
In any case, the Prime Minister, the elected leader of the Union of India, has not issued a government ban on Pakistani artists. The call for a ban is pretty much based on the MNS' threats to physically damage theatres. However, the call has received widespread support by the public and is generally in the news.
Perhaps PM Modi should be mildly mocked for his initial optimism in engaging Pakistan via meetings and handshakes, but how he is connected to the troubles of 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' is not only hard to see but requires the work of a script writer to invent.
And because apparently, this has to be told to people like Anurag Kashyap, let us state the obvious - everything PM Modi does is funded by taxpayers. Not because we have donated money on a whim, but because he is the elected leader of this country. PM Modi, as long as he is PM, is the head of the nation. The ink in the pens he uses to sign treaties is also taxpayer funded. It is near lunacy to claim that this is a 'diversion' of public funds.
That is literally what the public funds exist for - to be used for the public by the elected politicians.
Anurag got one thing right at least - Karan Johar is a private citizen who made an investment. And if he suffers a monetary loss that is indeed wrong.
Anurag, incidentally, stated that he has a right to question PM Modi. And as a citizen of this country, he does. But perhaps it is moves like this which prove, once again, that Bollywood has little understanding of politics. Anurag has a vague idea that the direction of this country is going wrong and an even vaguer idea about the cause and effect that lead to this situation.
At best, like the rest of his brethren in Bollywood, he is blindly lashing out at the person he believes somehow controls every feather that moves in this country,
Bollywood artists, especially directors, should remember that the country is not a film set, where everything can be arranged to one man's suitability before the shot is taken. Sometimes things have a momentum of their own.
Finally, since Kashyap is yet to apologise for inflicting Bombay Velvet on an unsuspecting audience, perhaps he should cut PM Modi some slack.
