Priyadarshan: “People Like Anurag Kashyap Should Just Shut Up”

India’s most  prolific filmmaker  Priyadarshan  is  not happy with   the  voices  of protest being raised   in the  film industry   against  the  Government’s Citizens’ Amendment Act(CAA).

“What have film people  got to do with political issues? Do they even understand the  nitty-gritty? How much did Deepika Padukone study  the situation at  JNU before visiting ?”  the director who was  once supposed to launch Deepika in a film called Pirates about musical  piracy

Priyan’s advice to  film folks? “Use cinema to express what you want to . Make films that  will reflect the country’s political reality. Do not jump into the  prevalent practice of  criticizingNarendra Modi and  Amit Shah  just to  get written about. It’s sad , but all one has to do to hit the headlines is to hit out at these two.”

 Priyan feels the  trend  of  lashing out at  PM Modi and hia most trusted aide  is no more than an attention-getting device.

And according to  Priyan, none  more prone to  this habit than Anurag Kashyap.

Asks  Priyan angrily, “What does he get by making it a habit to lash out at  the Prime Minister? He has  one of the world’s most powerful medium to change the  country’s  mindset.Instead  of expressing his criticism  through cinema of  what he sees as the wrongdoings  of the Governments  he uses the social media to get noticed. And the cinema he makes, many think they are  realistic. But according to  me  they are nothing but excuses  for sex and violence.”

 The angry filmmaker  feels film folks should express their opinion, political or otherwise, only through cinema.  “I think  people like   Anurag Kashyap should just shut their mouth.Of course  it is  everyone’s  fundamental right to  protest. But   just lashing out at  the  PM Modi and Amit Shah is  not constructive criticism  but a misuse  of  the  freedom of expression that democracy  offers  us.”