Chennai: Actor Kamal Haasan has come out in support of actor Deepika Padukone, who has received death threats from right-wing groups for acting in period drama Padmavati. Deepika and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali are in the middle of a raging controversy for allegedly trying to hurt Rajput pride with their film.
“I want Ms. Deepika’s head.. saved. Respect it more than her body. Even more her freedom. Do not deny her that. Many communities have apposed my films. Extremism in any debate is deplorable. Wake up cerebral India. Time to think. We’ve said enough. Listen Ma Bharat,” wrote Kamal on his Twitter page.
The reaction from the 63-year-old movie demi-god has come days after Haryana BJP chief media coordinator Suraj Pal Amu put a bounty of Rs 10 crore on the heads of Bhansali and Deepika. Suraj made his comments after a Meerut resident from the Kshatriya community announced a reward of Rs 5 crore for beheading these celebrities.
Interestingly, Kamal also recently courted a major political controversy after he spoke about Hindu ‘extremism’ in his weekly column for a Tamil magazine.
Kamal had also been in a similar predicament over the release of his film in the past. In 2013, his film Vishwaroopam was banned by the Tamil Nadu government after he was accused of showing the members of Muslim community in a bad light in the film. The allegations were made against his film even before watching it, similar to the Padmavati row.
Other Tamil film celebrities have also reacted to the controversies surrounding the film. Actor-politician R Sarath Kumar said the film fraternity should unite against the constant bullying of its members. “The film industry is being constantly bullied by divisive forces in the name of religion & culture which is going unnoticed by the gov. Disheartening to see such unruly behavior & threats. It’s time for film fraternity to unite & speak in one loud voice.@deepikapadukone #Padmavati,” he tweeted.
Actor-politician Khushbu Sundar also shared a similar sentiment over the Centre’s silent treatment to the whole controversy. “We live in a country where unfortunately law is a mute spectator to this new found hate n blatant provocation to murder n crime..,” she said reacting to a Tweet from stand-up comedian Vir Das.
“Art is meant to stimulate your mind, arouse your curiosity~led me to read about the epic Padmavat, first known source, a fictionalized poem written by Malik Muhammed in which Padmavati is the princess of Sinhal (Sri Lanka).. can’t find much in history on the topic #Padmavati,” said actor Arvind Swami.
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