Reacting to Boycott Brahmastra campaigns, Priyanka Chaturvedi asks Bollywood to speak up: ‘If you’ll continue to be mute spectators to hate…’

Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi has commented on Bollywood’s silence in the face of hate, and said that ‘photo ops’ such as the one in which leading film industry personalities interacted with Prime Miner Narendra Modi ‘will not help’. Her comments came after members of Hindu groups Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal protested in Ujjain against actors Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, preventing them from entering the Mahakaleshwar Temple.
The protests were reportedly staged against Ranbir’s recently resurfaced 2011 comments about enjoying beef. In a series of tweets, the Shiv Sena leader wrote, “None of this photo op will help if you’ll continue to be mute spectators to hate and believe its not your business to talk politics. They will come after you anyway. Mahakaleshwar temple protests in Ujjain is a case in point. Shame that political prejudice is leading to such ugliness.”

She continued, “This selective protest before every movie release has become an industry& a lob, if not collectively pushed back we are fast heading into an ass of hate, fear & silence. The entertainment industry is an employment generator, lakhs depend on it. Speak up.”

This selective protest before every movie release has become an industry& a lob, if not collectively pushed back we are fast heading into an ass of hate,fear& silence. The entertainment industry is an employment generator, lakhs depend on it. Speak up. https://t.co/tLpybJ7JjF
— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) September 7, 2022
 
Film stars in the country — especially in Bollywood — have often been accused of being apolitical in public, for fear of their work being affected. People like Naseeruddin Shah and Javed Akhtar, who have been vocal about their politics, have reasoned that big stars have a lot to lose. Ranbir and Alia were a part of the Bollywood group that travelled to New Delhi to meet the Prime Miner in 2019. The group also included Karan Johar, Vicky Kaushal, Sidharth Malhotra, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Kangana Ranaut, Sonam Kapoor and others.
Ranbir and Alia’s new film, Brahmastra, has been at the centre of a sustained boycott campaign, much like several other Hindi films this year. Previously, Aamir’s Laal Singh Chaddha was also attacked a certain section of social media.