Film and television actor Renuka Shahane has been outspoken about issues that matter, brazen in her views and a voice of reason amidst the cacophony of opinions one hears these days about everything national and ‘anti-national’.
In her latest Facebook post, Shahane jots down a comprehensive timeline of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena ( MNS) protests ( or the lack of it, at appropriate times) against actors and the film industry.
This comes at a time when the organisation has been threatening to stall the release of Karan Johar’s Ae Dil hai Mushkil and an atmosphere of tension between India and Pakistan.
She goes back in time to bring up past instances of tensions between the two neighbouring countries, and how the MNS reacted then.
Exposing the hypocrisy of responses shown by politicians in the country, she writes:
“2nd Jan 2016: Many defence personnel martyred at Pathankot. March 2016: Kapoor & Sons is released & becomes a hit. It has Pakistani actor Fawad Khan in it. MNS does not protest. The present: 18/10/2016: Karan Johar apologises saying he will never cast a Pakistani actor again Exhibitors of single screens still will not show the film. Our Home Minister says that it is business as usual in the country. Visas will be given to Pakistanis to come here & work. There will be no ban on Pakistani actors on the part of the Central Govt. MNS does not protest our Govt’s decision.”
Expressing grief with a sense of veiled anger on the politicisation of the surgical strikes and Pakistani artistes working in India, she writes:
“I thought our Army was always one of the best in the World. Meanwhile the tu tu main main over surgical strikes continue between the Congress & the BJP. The political squabbling & posturing continues. We might as Indian citizens be able to put our differences aside & be able to keep India above Art & Sports but will our politicians be able to keep India above Politics? I don’t think so. I don’t think they will ever be able to practice what they preach!”
With the situation between the two countries having escalated since the Uri attack, there has been a lot of talk about the countries taking severe steps to, well, sever ties with each other.
The impact has been massively felt on the film industry, with Pakistani actors getting banned in India and Indian shows getting banned back in Pakistan.
One can only hope that Shahane’s words echo with people sometime, somewhere.
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