‘Boycott culture’ depraves atmosphere, says Anurag Thakur
The Hindu
The Union Minister says it sends a wrong message and corrupts the atmosphere when Indian films are making waves across the globe
The ‘boycott culture’ targetting certain films depraves the atmosphere at a time when India is keen to enhance its influence as soft power, said Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur on Friday.
“It sends a wrong message and corrupts the atmosphere when Indian films are making waves across the globe,” he said.
Mr. Thakur, who was in Mumbai to inaugurate the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Film Festival, said that if someone has a problem with a movie, they should approach the censor boards which can take up the issue with producers and directors.
The Minister’s comments come as Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone-starrer film ‘Pathaan’, which earned ₹219 crore worldwide in two days, is facing boycott calls by various groups over one of its songs.
Mr. Thakur said the five-day film festival will be opened by screening Padma Shri and national award-winning filmmaker Priyadarshan’s Tamil movie Appatha.
“As many as 58 international films from 14 countries will be screened during the festival. SCO observer countries and dialogue partners have sent entries in the non-competition section of the film festival,” the Union Minister said.
He said the film festival is a platform to engage and collaborate to showcase the diversity of films and film-making in the SCO region and the time has come to come together and co-create films that reflect the Indian cultures.
“We are judges and therefore, cannot act like Mughals of a bygone era ... the writ courts in the guise of doing justice cannot transcend the barriers of law,” the High Court of Karnataka observed while setting aside an order of a single judge, who in 2016 had extended the lease of a public premises allotted to a physically challenged person to 20 years contrary to 12-year period stipulated in the law.
The High Court of Karnataka on Monday declined to interfere, at present, in the investigation against a Bharatiya Janata Party worker, who is among the accused persons facing charges of circulating obscene clips, related to “morphed” images and videos clips related to Prajwal Revanna, former Hassan MP, in public domain through pen drives and other modes.