After helping daily wagers, Salman Khan kicks off food donation drive at Mumbai auditoriums for drama artistes
Upala KBR (MID-DAY; June 1, 2020)

On May 30, mid-day had reported about Ali Fazal teaming up with actor-writer Amitosh Nagpal to raise funds for theatre artistes and technicians who have been hit hard by the Coronavirus lockdown. As it turns out, Salman Khan too has been concerned about the community and was charting out a plan with Yuva Sena leader Rahul N Kanal to extend help to them. Yesterday, the superstar kicked off a food donation drive for the theatre workers by sending his two food trucks, Being Haangryy, to the Damodar Natyagruha in Parel and Shri Shivaji Mandir Natyagruha in Dadar.

Kanal, who is coordinating the drive on behalf of Khan, along with Shiv Sena corporator Amey Ghole, informs that they intend to make it a daily affair with the two trucks covering different parts of Mumbai. He says, "We started the initiative when we heard about the plight of the artistes and technicians of Shri Shivaji Mandir Natyagruha. I reached out to Salman bhai who immediately agreed to help us. Each ration kit contains five kilos of rice and wheat flour, vegetables, oil, salt, spices and tea powder. We reached out to 186 workers on the first day and hope to extend help to other theatre artistes through them. We are practising safety measures while distributing the kits."

When it was brought to his notice that Fazal is building a database of theatre artistes to enable smooth and transparent distribution of funds, Kanal added, "If we could get the contact numbers of any theatre company that needs support, we will be happy to help."


Volunteers distributing food kits in Parel


Volunteers distributing food kits in Dadar

At Mumbai’s ‘rebel’ Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, English litterateur Nayantara Sahgal bemoans filmdom’s conspiracy of silence. Sahgal cited the example of the diatribe against Naseeruddin Shah, who was called a traitor for saying that the death of a cow had more value than that of a police officer in today’s India
Shruti Ganapatye (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 30, 2019)

Nearly three weeks after noted writer Nayantara Sahgal was not allowed to inaugurate the 92nd Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in Yavatmal following threats from MNS workers, the 91-year-old, who was at the forefront of the ‘Award Wapasi’ movement three years ago, yesterday questioned Bollywood’s silence over suppression of free speech.

Sahgal was in Mumbai yesterday on the invitation of cultural luminaries of Maharashtra, who had gathered at Shivaji Mandir in Dadar under the banner of ‘Let’s Unite’, to apologise to Sahgal for the ruckus in Yavatmal earlier this month. After the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan’s snub to Sahgal, personalities such as veteran actor-director Amol Palekar, writer Jayant Pawar, writer-poet and linguistic scholar Bhalchandra Nemade, activist Pushpa Bhave, and journalist Sandhya Nare Pawar among others came together to form a rebel platform to unite against oppression of freedom of expression.

And it was from this platform that Sahgal took on the high and mighty of the Hindi film industry, which has time and again abandoned its own legends fearing a political storm. Even in the wake of Me Too allegations, majority of top-drawer Bollywood personalities have maintained complete silence.

Citing the backlash faced by veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah over his recent comments on how he felt “anxious” for his children in today’s India, Sahgal said it was unfortunate that none from Bollywood supported him. “Mumbai is known for its film industry and we take pride in it. But why did the film industry not speak for a great actor? We are living in dangerous times, and if we remain silent, the regime will come upon us. The regime wants us to turn into a Hindu Rashtra, but we are a multi-culture civilisation and that is our uniqueness. We don’t want to lose this richness of our culture,” she said.

Shah was termed a traitor on social media for saying that “the death of a cow has more significance than that of a police officer in today’s India”. Several actors who have worked with Shah termed his comments as “personal opinion”.

Allahabad-born Sahgal, who is Jawaharlal Nehru’s niece and who returned the Sahitya Akademi Award over the murder of rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar, said she was overwhelmed that her speech, which she was not allowed to deliver at the Yavatmal event, was read out in the subsequent literary events across Maharashtra.

In her speech, Sahgal talked about the pain she experienced when Carnatic music legend T M Krishna’s (right) concert in New Delhi had to be cancelled due to threats from the Right Wing, death threats to historian Ram Guha, and the vicious diatribe against Naseeruddin Shah. “This speech, which was to be read out at the sahitya sammelan, found audience in small towns. I want to thank you for that,” she said.

Incidentally, yesterday’s event was opened with a recital from TM Krishna, who sang couplets of Basavanna and poems by Tamil writer Perumal Murugan.

Krishna also spoke about how the voice of dissent was being muzzled. “Art has to ask questions to the society. Art is not only about being pretty; it’s also about disturbance. Disturbance has to be there in art; its job is to be a voice of resistance,” he said. Regarding the protests that he himself faced, the 43-year-old Chennai based vocalist said, “Defying Hindu religion and singing praises on Allah and Jesus is a problem. Irrationality creates, fear and this leads to violence, metaphorical or physical.”

Palekar spoke about the growing censorship in society as a whole. “There is a pre-censorship for artists. I have to get my scripts and cinema okayed through pre-censorship. But then, why this is not applicable to other expressions? You do not ask for a script of provocative speeches delivered at the Shivaji Park rallies. Ramdev gives fiery speeches at Ramlila Maidan but he does not face any censorship. When I capture the speeches in the form of movies, I have to face censorship. Now, we have a new type of censorship which is ‘hurting people’s sentiments’. This fight is not only ours but of everyone in the society,” he said.


Nayantara Sahgal with linguist and cultural activist Ganesh Devy