Mumbai Jan 21 (IANS) Lyricist and poet Manoj Muntashir, in an exclusive conversation with IANS, has taken a firm stand against A.R. Rahman’s recent communal remarks, citing the stature of Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan as India’s biggest superstars to strongly refute Rahman’s claims of communal bias in the film industry.
Talking to IANS, Manoj said, “This is a country whose biggest superstars are Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan. Its most celebrated writers and poets include Javed Akhtar, Sahir Ludhianvi and Majrooh Sultanpuri. This is also a country where the cricket team was captained by Mohammad Azharuddin. I don’t believe there is any discrimination in our industry.”
He elaborated, “In any Hindi film, at any time, just read the opening and end credits. You will see a long list of names, almost 250 people. If you look closely, you will notice a clear pattern. I openly challenge anyone to pick any random film and show me where one particular religion has been given special importance while others were ignored. You will never find anything like that.”
He added, “We respect A.R. Rahman deeply and are very proud that he belongs to our country. At the same time, with complete respect, we have the right to disagree, and I completely disagree with the claim being made, especially the suggestion that something has changed in the last eight years. I don’t understand why that time period is being highlighted.”
The lyricist further added, “In the last eight years, films like Pathaan and Jawan have broken all box office records. This country has a big heart and soul. It does not judge its artists, it loves them. If you do good work, people lift you on their shoulders. Sometimes they get upset and scold you, but that closeness comes from love.”
“That is the relationship between this country and its artists. Any kind of discrimination, of any sort, I completely refuse to believe. This inclusiveness is our identity,” he concluded.
For the uninitiated, AR Rahman has been stirring headlines ever since he stated that his work in the Hindi film industry has slowed down over the last eight years, blaming “power shift” and “communal” politics in the entertainment industry.
After the composer received a severe backlash following his “communal” remarks, Rahman had shared a video message on his social media account apologising and clarifying that he never intended to hurt sentiments and expressed regret if his words had caused pain to anybody.
–IANS
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