New Delhi, Aug 11: Expressing his dismay over the ongoing protests surrounding the release of his film ‘Aarakshan', mega star Amitabh Bachchan said the way creative freedom is being curbed one might be living in a “most unfortunate fascist conditioning.”
Bachchan, who has been cautious about his views on reservation, is unhappy with the politics surrounding the movie's release tomorrow. He said creative people should get to display their creativity, irrespective of any political pressure.
“An artist, a creative person does not further the cause of politics. He or she furthers the cause of creative expression.
“If creative expression is to be curbed by institutes that wish to dictate their terms and conditions above the conditions of the legal recognized constitutional formats, democratically accepted and converted into law by the highest authorities of legality, then we might as well accept that we live not in the sanctity of the tenets of democracy but a most unfortunate fascist conditioning,” Bachchan wrote on his blog.
The 68-year-old actor, who plays the lead role of a college principal in the movie, slammed the protests against the movie, which has been banned by Uttar Pradesh and Punjab governments amid apprehension that certain scenes and dialogues in the movie may cause law and order problem. Bachchan said it was high time that film fraternity stood up to protect its interests.
“Why does not the film fraternity of India and more so of Mumbai, have a force or body that stands up and protects its own under attack on occasion from groups that take objection to the very spirit of the freedom of expression, inscribed so prominently and decisively in our revered Constitution,” Bachchan said.
“Why whenever we are at the stage of bringing our heads above the cacophony of the world with its myriad issues, to perhaps simply breathe, do forces that seek resentment attempt to strangulate us,” He added. PTI
