So, instead of writing my review of Dilwale, I decided consciously to write about the ongoing stupidity which is harming the business of Dilwale. It is highly disturbing to me because when I was hearing the interview which started all this ruckus, I had a fear that it would be blown out of proportion. My fear came true and how.
Let me start with how the conversation started.
If you are curious to hear those words from the man himself, this is the video to watch. Let me know when you hear him say "India is intolerant."
What did he say wrong? Is killing people over what they eat, something to be proud of? In any sane person's opinion, no my friend, it is actually quite shameful. You know, there is some level of intolerance in every corner of the world. Racists, ethnocentric people and xenophobic people are everywhere and they do ridiculously unethical acts. Such acts do attract criticism from people. Shah Rukh has done the same.
Dear Indian protesters, did you know that by protesting, vandalizing, and threatening...you are not proving yourselves to be very tolerant? In spite of not being spelled out loud, you are still adding fuel to the issue of religious intolerance. Now, you must realize some important key points. He is an Indian citizen like you. His vote counts as much as yours do. His taxes are used in the same way as your taxes are used. He has the same freedoms as you do, which includes the right to have a voice. So what wrong has he done by speaking about an issue? When other celebrities talked about the meat ban, no one decided to boycott him/her. Why SRK? Just because his father was a Pakistani born freedom fighter who chose India? Or because his parents chose to retain their original religion of Islam? What is the problem? Do you guys not have any actual serious problems to be concerned about? It is absolutely pitiful that Shah Rukh has to repeatedly say that he is an Indian and a proud one.You guys are dampening my happiness which lies in him. You all are a threat to this world, not just India alone because you guys are reproducing!!!
If you remember past hot situations, Shah Rukh has often been the victim of intolerance. People have pelted stones at his house. People have burned his posters. People have sent him death threats. People have disrupted his films in theaters. People tell him to leave India. People keep abusing him all the time. People even drag his kids and late parents when they abuse him. He has much more right to speak about any kind of intolerance because he constantly suffers because of it. But if he dares to speak about such things, he becomes the villain. In his industry and outside of it too, there is this acid like hatred for him which is very heart breaking at times. One cannot ignore negativity for too long.
Hate him because you are a fan of someone else or you think he is not a good actor or he is overrated. But stop making him the scapegoat of illogical political hate. If you disagree with him, be civilized for God's sake and respect his opinion. He is not your neighborhood dog that you can abuse and throw sandals at. He is a very important and respectable man, much more important than your alien political leaders who are not even worthy of standing on a international stage. Learn to respect the man who has made India proud. Most people know India because of him. Don't try to break the man who provides hope and happiness to millions around the world and in India through his work.
Let me start with how the conversation started.
Barkha: But is it frightening to you as a product of the syncretic background that today this country is trapped in battles over cow meat and whether Mumbai should ban a certain kind of meat during the certain kind of festival...that there is violence attached to this. This is no longer an academic debate. I mean, the current raging debate is intolerance. And do you believe that there is rising intolerance? Do you believe you live in an environment where it is getting tougher and tougher to just say something and not be attacked and not be assaulted?
SRK: I think the one reason for it also is that the platforms have increased. Maybe, there were similar attacks then but there were not enough platforms to hear the voice. Now there is social media, television has become much bigger, radio, everything...everyone speaking. Everybody is talking. Everybody has a right to talk and put it out there. So I think maybe, it might have been there earlier, I hope so. That it is not a modern phenomena, it is not a recent phenomena. I am assuming ke chalo yaar, pehle bhi aisa tha lekin sunayi nahi deta tha. Now you hear it a lot more. Second part of it is..yeah I think that just because you can hear it a lot more, like in my case, I think we should speak a little more sensibly. I think we should be a little more tolerant. We should give each other some levee. And what each other yaar? If this "our country" and religion...keep on talking about then we are going to go back to the dark ages. There is NOTHING, there is NOTHING less important than religious intolerance. It is shocking to me. I can't imagine. Yes, people tell me that maybe in smaller towns, the way people are brought up, it's different, blah blah blah. But I meet people from everywhere, maybe from the place I am is not enough. But I still meet people. Yeah, of course you can make their way of thinking different by public speaking or being larger than life and changing mindsets. But I don't think religion intolerance is any which way forward for any country. I think it's the worst kind of thing that can happen. And intolerance of any kind...and now we're looking at such small issues. And like you said, these are not small issues because they are leading to violence. It's really really shocking. And how do Indians go and show their face...you know when I'm outside, and people say...you guys don't do this? And I am not saying that this is what defines my country. Because I can tell you one million things that define my country beyond this intolerance part. But when somebody is asking me, you've got to answer it. And it doesn't auger well for us as Indians. To even answer in joke. What answer do you give to this? You certainly don't become serious about it. Because I rather talk about India in a manner which India really deserves to be spoken about.
Barkha: And India's image is being hurt in the world. But that's not the primary reason to change it, we have to change it for ourselves?
SRK: The change is for us. We don't have to change it for others, the imagery is okay. The imagery will be bettered or lessened by different things. The change is for us.
If you are curious to hear those words from the man himself, this is the video to watch. Let me know when you hear him say "India is intolerant."
What did he say wrong? Is killing people over what they eat, something to be proud of? In any sane person's opinion, no my friend, it is actually quite shameful. You know, there is some level of intolerance in every corner of the world. Racists, ethnocentric people and xenophobic people are everywhere and they do ridiculously unethical acts. Such acts do attract criticism from people. Shah Rukh has done the same.
Dear Indian protesters, did you know that by protesting, vandalizing, and threatening...you are not proving yourselves to be very tolerant? In spite of not being spelled out loud, you are still adding fuel to the issue of religious intolerance. Now, you must realize some important key points. He is an Indian citizen like you. His vote counts as much as yours do. His taxes are used in the same way as your taxes are used. He has the same freedoms as you do, which includes the right to have a voice. So what wrong has he done by speaking about an issue? When other celebrities talked about the meat ban, no one decided to boycott him/her. Why SRK? Just because his father was a Pakistani born freedom fighter who chose India? Or because his parents chose to retain their original religion of Islam? What is the problem? Do you guys not have any actual serious problems to be concerned about? It is absolutely pitiful that Shah Rukh has to repeatedly say that he is an Indian and a proud one.You guys are dampening my happiness which lies in him. You all are a threat to this world, not just India alone because you guys are reproducing!!!
If you remember past hot situations, Shah Rukh has often been the victim of intolerance. People have pelted stones at his house. People have burned his posters. People have sent him death threats. People have disrupted his films in theaters. People tell him to leave India. People keep abusing him all the time. People even drag his kids and late parents when they abuse him. He has much more right to speak about any kind of intolerance because he constantly suffers because of it. But if he dares to speak about such things, he becomes the villain. In his industry and outside of it too, there is this acid like hatred for him which is very heart breaking at times. One cannot ignore negativity for too long.
Hate him because you are a fan of someone else or you think he is not a good actor or he is overrated. But stop making him the scapegoat of illogical political hate. If you disagree with him, be civilized for God's sake and respect his opinion. He is not your neighborhood dog that you can abuse and throw sandals at. He is a very important and respectable man, much more important than your alien political leaders who are not even worthy of standing on a international stage. Learn to respect the man who has made India proud. Most people know India because of him. Don't try to break the man who provides hope and happiness to millions around the world and in India through his work.
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