Shatrughan Sinha urges the PM to bring miscreants who assaulted Sanjay Leela Bhansali to book
Subhash K Jha (DNA; January 29, 2017)

Outspoken Bharatiya Janata Party leader and veteran actor Shatrughan is outraged by the assault on filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali on the sets of Padmavati by goons owing allegiance to an Hindu outfit called the Rajput Karni Sena.

Not representatives!
Sinha is of the opinion that the strongest action must be taken against such miscreants. He says, “These lumpen elements cannot be seen as representing any rational Hindu ideology. No religion in the world gives anyone the right to perpetrate violence or to take the law into one’s own hands.”

What about lesser mortals?
When reminded that such protestors endeavour to extend their allegiance to the Bharatiya Janta Party, Shatru bursts out, “I do not know whom they profess their allegiance to. Or what they are protesting about. Have they seen Bhansali’s film, Padmavati? Do they know what is in it? How can they protest about something that has not happened? I think Bhansali is a responsible filmmaker. He would never do anything to damage our religion and culture. If this can happen to Bhansali, I shudder to think what treatment lies in store for lesser mortals.”

‘There are legal channels’
He believes that the push must come from the top brass itself. He explains, “I sincerely urge our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji to take action against the rampant culture of violent protests and to personally look into the cultural intolerance, that is rapidly rising in our country. If you don’t like a film or even the idea of a film, there are legal channels to express your protest and displeasure. Yeh danga-phasaad maar-peet nahin chalega. And that too, inflicted on a filmmaker of such a high calibre? Baap re!”

Easy targets
Warming up to the subject of Bhansali’s cinema. Sinha asserts, “Films and filmmakers are easy targets in our country. They are seen as ‘entertainment’ and therefore frivolous and prone to trivialize religion and culture. But a filmmaker like Bhansali takes our culture to the furthest of places in the world. We owe him an apology for what has happened.”