After Bollywood bigwigs met Narendra Modi on Saturday, director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari discusses prime minister's vision for Indian films
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; October 21, 2019)

Almost 10 months after meeting Bollywood stars to discuss how the industry can be instrumental in building a better society, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday, played host to the film fraternity again. The event, titled ChangeWithin, was to discuss initiatives to promote Mahatma Gandhi's idealogy through films as a mark of the freedom fighter's 150th birth anniversary. The interaction at his official residence in New Delhi saw the biggest names from the industry — including Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kangana Ranaut, Sonam K Ahuja, filmmakers Imtiaz Ali, Nitesh and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, and Rajkumar Hirani — in attendance.

Speaking to mid-day, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari lauded the prime minister for entrusting artistes to be the drivers of change. "Art, music and stories can bring humanity together and spread thoughts of change for a brighter India. This is our prime minister's ultimate aim. We, as storytellers, need to spread this emotion with utmost pride. I want to be a part of this language [of cinema] and [spread the message] through different mediums," she said. During the interaction, Modi expressed his plans to give concessions to those making films on Gandhism. "It is important that artistes get government support to spread the creative idea. It will encourage more storytellers to do their bit for society. Our PM is a visionary," she added.

The evening began with Modi unveiling the Hirani-directed short film on Gandhi. Producer Dinesh Vijan hailed Modi for his initiative of bringing the film fraternity together: "We discussed the social impact of films and the responsibility that comes with it. He encouraged us to spread Gandhiji's philosophies in the films we make."

The artistes' star-struck behaviour as they sought selfies with Modi did not go down well with some social media users. Many on Twitter called out Aamir, asking if he was "feeling unsafe now" — alluding to his remark in 2015 where he had expressed that wife Kiran Rao and he had felt unsafe amidst the wave of intolerance in India.