Kangana’s new clothes: designers Anand Bhushan and Rimzim Dadu say no
The Hindu
Opinion | Is the Indian fashion industry finally finding its political voice? Two young designers, Anand Bhushan and Rimzim Dadu, lead the way by saying no to right-wing mouthpiece and actor Kangana Ranaut
On May 4, two fashion designers announced via social media that they will never work with Kangana Ranaut and took down all previous content featuring the actor. In doing so, Anand Bhushan and Rimzim Dadu marked the first time Indian designers have expressed and committed themselves to a moral and political stance so publicly. Fashion designers in India are known to be notoriously absent from any political discourse, especially in public. Few dared raise their voices during the CAA-NRC protests last year, knowing full well that a majority of their workforce is Muslim. So what led Bhushan and Dadu to do this? Ranaut is hardly the first Bollywood actor to be involved in politics. Was it because she stands apart as the most invective-laden supporter of the Central Government from the ranks of Bollywood currently aligned with the BJP? Truth bears witness that she regularly misrepresents facts, and that her words are the very essence of hate speech. But it was her reference to the Prime Minister’s stint as Gujarat’s CM during the worst pogrom in the history of Independent India — and openly calling for similar violence — that was the last straw for Bhushan and Dadu. “What I’ve communicated should not even be a talking point,” Bhushan tells The Hindu Weekend. “What is the significance of this over someone with millions of followers openly calling for violence?”More Related News