India is all set to celebrate 75 years of its freedom from the British, which they got in 1947. However, it is ironical that just when the country is reaching the important milestone related to its freedom, a section of the population is busy promoting curtailment of the same.
The whole #BoycottLaalSinghChaddha ‘movement’ is not just unfair but plainly silly. One of the main reasons why the film is being boycotted is the supposed ‘anti-India’ statements made by the film’s lead actor and producer Aamir Khan way back in 2015.
Messages are being circulated claiming that the star said that he wants to leave India as he is feeling unsafe. This is nothing but a fabricated version of what Khan actually said.
As you can hear from the above video, Khan said that his then wife Kiran Rao asked if they should move out of India. Firstly, it wasn’t suggested by Khan. Secondly, the very next thing the actor said was, “Now that’s a disastrous and a very big statement for Kiran to make to me.” Khan himself said on record that what she said was “disastrous” but not many of us paid heed to that, either knowingly or unknowingly.
Funnily enough, the statement came out in 2015. Following this, Khan released three of his films in the following years, Dangal (2016), Secret Superstar (2017) and Thugs Of Hindostan (2018). Except Dangal to some extent, no other film faced boycott. But today, seven years after that statement, there is a massive campaign against the actor for his film Laal Singh Chaddha.
This isn’t the only reason why the film is boycotted. Somehow few months before the release of the film, fake messages and memes are being circulated claiming that Aamir said in his show Satyamev Jayate that we shouldn’t pour milk on the Shivling and should instead use that money to help the needy. Some messages are also claiming that he said the same thing in his earlier film PK (2014).
As it is proved in one of my previous articles, Aamir has never made any such statement on the Shivling, either in his show or in the movie. Instead, it was Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal who have made exactly the same statements (read the article and see the videos HERE). The former made it in the movie OMG Oh My God (2012) and the latter while promoting the same film. In fact, Akshay also went onto criticize the practice of pouring oil on Hanuman’s deity on Saturdays.
Hear both of them out in the videos above. Did anyone of you ever come across any boycott calls for Akshay or Rawal?
Even if the boycotters argue that out of these, the statement made by Aamir in 2015 about Rao asking if they should leave India are problematic, it is still hypocritical. This is because they are completely ignoring Kangana Ranaut comment made last year, which is many times more controversial and offensive than what Khan said.
Speaking at a summit organized by a news channel, she described India’s independence from the British in 1947 saying, “Woh azadi nahin thi, woh bheek thi. Aur jo azadi mili hai woh 2014 mein mili hai.” Watch the video of the same below.
Now, I don’t need to spell out how problematic this statement is. In a single sentence, the actress has questioned the sacrifices of all those freedom fighters who fought for India’s freedom. It is also clear that the comments made by Aamir are nowhere near to what she said. Plus, she has had a history of making comments of this nature. Comparing Mumbai with PoK is just one other example.
So, if you are deeply offended and incensed by Aamir’s comments but have no problems with what Ranaut’s said, you know what that makes you. More so if you are celebrating India’s 75years of freedom without having issues when someone said that that wasn’t actual freedom.
