New Delhi: The political divisions in the Hindi film industry is not a new phenomenon but the bifurcation came to the fore yet again post JNU violence when tweets went viral around a debate whether “Bollywood got JNU-ised”.
One netizen summed up the paradox well - “Right Wing - Lets go for Tanhaji, Left Wing - Lets go for Chhapaak”.
The missive refers to actress Deepika Padukone’s clash with another Bollywood star Ajay Devgan whose film ‘Tanhaji - the Unsung Warrior’ also got released on Friday, January 10.
It was actress Swara Bhasker who had tweeted: “Bollywood just got JNU-ised” and this was related to actress Deepika Padukone’s visit to the JNU campus to express solidarity with Leftist students.
The issue figured in TV debates and Twitteratis have been so active that Ms Padukone captured page 1 in news papers easily as several BJP leaders also made a beeline attacking the actress and even called for ban on her film ‘Chhapaak’.
Vocal Union Minister Smriti Irani said at a function in Chennai that Deepika Padukone’s political affiliation with Congress is well known since 2011.
Bollywood watchers maintain the ‘division’ in Bollywood had actually come to the fore on the eve of 2014 polls when about 60 film stars wrote open letter urging voters to vote against Narendra Modi and the BJP.
The stars included the likes of Nandita Das, Imtiaz Ali, Vishal Bhardwaj, Govind Nihalani, Saeed Mirza, Zoya Akhtar, Kabir Khan and Mahesh Bhatt.
Scriptwriter Anjum Rajabali, who drafted the letter in April 2014 had said they were ‘compelled’ to speak up as the right wing fundamentalist forces were making young people feel very insecure.
There was the other version too. Anupam Kher has been vocal in favour of Mr Modi and who later also acted in a film that made fun of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
Kher’s wife Kirron Kher is now two-time BJP lawmaker from Chandigarh. (UNI)
