While big stars such as the Khans and Kapoors have been keeping mum, people like Mahesh Bhatt, Nandita Das, Govind Nihalani, Zoya Akhtar, Imtiaz Ali and Kabir Khan have come together pleading with the public to vote against Narendra Modi.
Some others such as Madhur Bhandarkar, Anupam Kher and Salim Khan have, at the same time, come out in support of the BJP leader.
On Tuesday, writer Anjum Rajabali issued a collective appeal on behalf of a score of people from the fraternity, asking the voters to "vote strategically in order to protect the secular character of the country".
They feel that secularism has vanished from the public discourse as an issue important for this election.
Producer-director Mahesh Bhatt alleged that the BJP was trying to make a non-secular form of politics acceptable under the garb of growth. "The seniors of the industry have voiced their opinion in the past, but it is good to see the younger brigade talk about it," he said.
"In current times, no one should be apolitical. It is important to have a stand and voice it," Bhatt said.
According to Rajabali, his appeal got support from over 60 people within the industry within 24 hours. "We will reach out to another 300-400 people in the next couple of days to spread the message," he said. "Secularism is something that we hold central to our sense of India. Hence, people felt that we should have a public statement bringing that back as a factor in our electoral choice."
Film director Madhur Bhandarkar, however, expressed shock over the appeal letter. "It is shocking to see some people, under garb of stopping so-called divisive forces, are themselves dividing a secular place like our film industry," he said.
Bhandarkar said launching a personal attack on a man who had done more for his state than any other leader reeked of conspiracy and unwarranted paranoia. "Let's hope better sense prevails and our film industry elects Narendra Modi with a thumping majority," he said. "It's time India got a visionary leader," he added.
Salim Khan, noted scriptwriter and superstar Salman Khan's father, said he liked Modi as a good friend.
On Tuesday, Salim Khan launched the Urdu version of Narendra Modi's official Web site. "I have personal relations with Modi. And I launched the website for the love of the language and because he requested me to do so," he said.
In recent times, Modi has met some big stars in the film industry including Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Rajanikanth and has tweeted pictures with them on the social media.
BJP has already got Bhojpuri superstar Manoj Tiwari to campaign for the party and it is also likely to rope in Ravi Kishan, another big Bhojpuri film star.
Copyright © 2014 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment