Karan Johar has poked the “N” issue again. In his latest column in NDTV, the director-producer has written about the video that he had to record last year declaring his nationalism to facilitate the release of his film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.
Karan candidly admits that it felt like being in a hostage video.
I’ve been criticised for going on the record and people have called my statement a hostage video. Yes, I’ve read all that. Yes, it made me cringe. Yes, I looked like I had a gun to my head, and yes, you couldn’t see it, but it felt like it was there.Karan Johar, Filmmaker
He also shares how it felt like to wear the love of his country on his sleeve.
I hated having to sit there and declare my “nationalism” and what should constitute it. But it also got me thinking... I know what circumstances led me to do that, I understand, and it’s not like today, I can apologise for making it, because that might put me into another kind of limelight which I do not want. Would I do it again? Probably not. I hope not. You find yourself feeling coerced and compromised in your morality, your ethics, your principles. Brought to my knees with a hostage video.
Karan also refers to the recent assault of Sanjay Leela Bhansali indirectly, wondering if his own actions might have set a precedent for allowing this kind of hooliganism.
And when a fellow filmmaker gets humiliated, you wonder if you have set a precedent that he is paying the price for? You hope you’re wrong.
KJo’s video had come in response to the agitation against screening of the film because it starred Pakistani actor Fawad Khan. MNS has since banned Pakistani artistes from working in India.
(Source: NDTV)
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