Veteran lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar, who is thought for his outspoken views in opposition to the central authorities, not too long ago shared why many Bollywood celebrities, particularly high stars, select to stay silent on political issues. Talking on Kapil Sibal’s YouTube channel, Akhtar stated it isn’t indifference however worry that holds them again.He drew a comparability with Hollywood, citing Meryl Streep’s daring speech on the 2017 Golden Globe Awards, the place she criticised then-US President Donald Trump.“Meryl Streep gave a press release [against the US government], however there was no income tax raid on her,” Akhtar stated. “Whether or not this insecurity is actual or not, I don’t need to get into that debate. However the notion exists. If this worry is in a single’s coronary heart, then they are going to fear in regards to the ED, the CBI, an earnings tax raid… that their recordsdata will probably be opened and so they’ll be investigated.”He additionally clarified that this worry will not be rooted inside the movie business itself. “They could be within the business, however they reside in the identical society. They function like bizarre individuals. There’s simply extra dhoom-dhaam on this occupation,” he added.Akhtar maintained that he doesn’t blame others for selecting silence. “I is likely to be one of many few voices talking up, however I perceive why others may not,” he stated.
Streep’s Golden Globe speech, which Akhtar referenced, turned a viral second in 2017. Accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award, she stated, “There was one efficiency this 12 months that surprised me. It sank its hooks in my coronary heart—not as a result of it was good; there was nothing good about it—but it surely was efficient and it did its job. It was that second when the individual asking to take a seat in probably the most revered seat in our nation imitated a disabled reporter—somebody he outranked in privilege, energy and the capability to struggle again. It broke my coronary heart.”
