Making Film is a Business Venture

The recent statements by some bollywood celebrities and politicians on the films by Pakistani actors are laughable. Anurag Kashyap want to compare PM visit to Pakistan to the Pakistani actors, another  celebrity says that the ban will kill Karan Johar  and film industry as millions have been spent on the film, some wonder as to why artists are being singled out and why not others and many more. This not only shows the intellectual capability of these film makers and artists and their level of knowledge and understanding but  only highlights that they are only interested in making money and nothing else matters for them.

Making of a film is just like any other business and nothing else and every business has a risk of failure and it is equally true for a film also. You took the Pakistani artists and made a film by your own choices and nobody forced you to do it. The attacks in Patankot and Uri were not prompted by India and nobody could have predicted them. It was done by them and hence the punishment has to borne by them. Government has not banned the film or thrown the artists out of India.  They fled because they were scared and blaming the PM and the government for it is ridiculous and shows the desperation. A number of business ventures fail every day but the government is not responsible for their failure but only the individual who took a risk when he undertook the venture. So the blame of failure is also of the person only.

The films are made for the public and it the right of the public whether they wish to see the movie or not, to accept it or reject it due to any reason whatsoever. Blaming somebody else is just plain stupidity. Even if the films with Pakistani actors is released then still it is the right of cinema owners to show them or not as it is purely a business decision and the right of public to see or not to see it. It is our freedom of speech that we can say that we do not want to see Pakistani actors doing acting in India and such films should not be made. If you have made them then the risk of the film not doing business are yours only and not of government. If it loses money than accept it gracefully that you made a mistake rather than giving stupid statements. Singling out of actors is not done by public but because of the statements they make in public which are against their sentiments and the public has an equal right to voice their opinion as much as the actors have. If you stop making such statements then there will be no reaction and no singling out.

Questioning Armed Forces

The so called honorary rank holders like Sachin Tedulkar, M S Dhoni or the stars who have been conferred honorary rank have not shed a single tear, offered help to these families or praised the army for their action but are content with their rank, attend raising days celebrations and attend parties showing off their uniforms. I feel it is a disgrace to the uniform and to the rank which has been conferred on them and it is time the President of India took away their honorary ranks for disgracing the Armed forces.

By asking the Army to give proof of the strike is disgracing and shaming the brave soldiers who have dies or are ready to die for this country. The Surgical strikes are not like sting operations or TV footage which should be sown by the army to prove its point. Give the men in uniform the respect and honor which they deserve. No strike of this kind is ever publicized or shown on TV. The details of the strike were announced by the DGMO of Indian Army and shared with his counterpart in Pakistan Army. What more proof does anybody else want? The Indian Army is not bound to shown TV footage but their action speaks for them. their selfless duty to the nation and its citizen speaks for them, their guarding the borders in hostile environment speaks for them, their missing of the Diwali and Holi with their families speaks for them, their missing of their children’s birthday or the death of their family members speaks for them, their war injuries speaks for them. But sadly theses people who question the army have nothing to show as their achievements or sacrifices to their country except for some speeches, TV shows and a mass of unaccounted wealth,  and they have the audacity to question the army. Please join army or send your son and daughter to the armed forces and feel the pain which the family of each and every soldier or his family member bears.

Who Will Weep After Me?

1. Who will weep after me after I have laid down my life guarding the borders so that the citizens of this country are safe and can go about their normal daily routine even though I have been missing my children’s birthday, not celebrated Diwali, Holi, Eid and Christmas with then for years, or even missed my parent’s funeral?  This is the question which every soldier, officer whether of Indian Army or of Para military forces guarding the border is asking. He knows fully well that not a single crocodile tear will be shed or a single word of sympathy will be offered to his family by the present set of politicians like Sanjay Nirupam, Arvind Kejriwal, Digvijay Singh, etc  or by the our Pakistan friendly  actors and directors like, Karan Johar, Salmon Khan, Kailash Kher, Anurag Kashyap or Om Puri. The actors and directors will be busy in making money, the civil servants in what they are best in doing and the politician in making  irresponsible and stupid statements about the armed forces except for a very few whom you can count on your fingers. We would prefer to pay lacs per episode to these Pakistani’s who will pay taxes to the Pakistani government or give money in the garb of charity to the terrorist organizations in Pakistan to buy bullets which will kill our own Indian soldiers on the border from the money given by these persons.

2. To add salt to the wound the Bihar and UP government offered two lacs rupees to the soldiers of their states who laid down their lives, when this is the amount they offer to the persons who die in hooch tragedy in their states. Does the lives of the soldier who died so that you can stay alive is the same or cheaper than those who took spurious liquor for their comfort and died while the state collected taxes on it? They would prefer not to attend the funeral or go and meet the family members but were there to greet a convicted politician released on bail, or eat lunch with a dalit or sit in protest on roads about their lack of power and comfort.

3. It is time that the citizens of this great country got up and said that enough is enough. We should take a pledge that neither will we elect these politicians to represent us or watch the movies in which these actors or their friendly Pakistani actors have acted. Enough is enough, please stand up and clap for the real heroes of India who have laid or are ready to lay down their lives so that you can go about your business and spent time with your families and enjoy live and not for these filmy and political heroes, who can only act or talk, but would prefer their sons and daughters not to join armed forces in order to serve the country.  

4. The soldier is now realizing that the only people who will cry for him are his family and relatives, his comrades in arms, veterans and some concerned citizens of this great country. A few will come out to help the children and martyr’s family in resettlement by monetary or other grants. But is it enough, only a few concerned citizens out of 135 crores of population? Enough is enough the citizens of this country, please stop hurting the honour, respect, pride and commitment, valour and sacrifice  of the armed and Para military forces by asking them proof of what they have done for this country or make stupid comments. Should the Indian Army and BSF also open the gates at the borders and welcome the Pakistani rangers and army to come and work in India as Pakistani actors and singer? After all they are not terrorists, but are only helping the terrorists like these actors and singers, the only difference s the way they are doing it. One is giving money while the other is giving them training, arms, etc from the money paid by them in the form of taxes and donations or even moral support.

5. Stop before the soldier becomes so demoralized that he should start thinking as to what he is doing on the border away from his family for you and is ready to die for you. Why he cannot lead a normal life like any other citizens and leave the guarding to the citizen of this country or the citizens of this country should pay a defence tax or he will be better off when he is running the country rather than others? If you cannot praise them for the selfless service they are doing then at least keep quiet and enjoy the freedom of speech, fear free life, and other comforts of modern day life while he is denied even this. Remember, this is what he has given you by sacrificing his life and made the lives of his family members very difficult. Besides saving you from external threat how many times he was called upon to help you in natural calamities, floods, forest fire, earth quake, internal disturbance and even saving children from bore well left open by you.

6. The only thing I can say is what Rasthrakavi Pradeep said in his poem which was beautifully sung by our own Lata Mangeshkar

“Aye mere watan ke logo zara ankh me bhar lo pani,

Jo shaeed  hua hai unke zara yad karo kurbani”.

And

 “Kuch Yad unhe bhi kar lo, jo lot ke ghar na aye.”

And stop playing politics, one up man ship, or personal favorites with the national pride of this country, the armed forces and Para military forces.

Work Visa and Pakistani Nationals

The recent attack on Pathankot air base and the attack on Indian army at Uri have brought into focus once again on the Pakistani nationals coming to work in India on work visas. The focus has again shifted thanks or otherwise to the MNS, on Pakistani actors who recently worked in some big budget Indian movies and must have been paid crores of rupees for their work. The MNS demanded that they return to their own country and as the newspaper reports suggest that they have left the country whether on their own or after the threat is not clear. The film industry is again up in the arms with demanding that whether stopping them from working and promoting the films in India will stop terrorist activities carried out by Pakistan? They have even quoted the most misused expression of freedom of expression and that the exchange of artists will promote development of better relations and peaceful atmosphere with Pakistan and promotes peace with them.

Have these persons ever sat down and thought that when we have enough good talent in India and there are a number of unemployed artists in India itself then what is the requirement of bringing these artists from Pakistan? Are our own new artists not good enough or they charging exorbitant fees? Both these arguments are silly and show their lack of knowledge about the present situation in the country. But what one can expect from these highly paid actors who keep making stupid comments only to regret them later. Probably they think their acting stardom gives them a right to comment on everything and they can get away with it due to their large fan following.  Please use our own people or train them so that they can come up to your expectations and help in skill development and poverty elevation in India rather than bringing the foreign artists especially from Pakistan. Stopping Pakistani artists from giving work visa may or may not actually stop terrorism but will definitely cut down the funding to those who are behind all this terrorist activities in Pakistan and every small step in choking them counts. Every small step will definitely help the country in a big way in fighting against these activities and it is these small contributions from every citizen that counts.

Moreover, these actors and artists come to India on work visa and earn crores of rupees which go out of India rather than remain in our own economy. They go back to Pakistan and contribute in the name of charity to those organizations, whether willingly or due to extortion or otherwise, whether by choice or ignorance, who carry out terrorist activities in Indian soil against our own people. They inadvertently contribute to running and funding of these terrorist organization., their training camps, arms and ammunition and pay for these so called misguided jihadis. I am not saying that these artists are jihadis or they are terrorist sympathizers but they do it because they and their families have to live in a country where terror is a state sponsored subject and hence they may not have a choice and even if they did have, they have chosen to keep quiet about them and remain an anonymous figure rather than protest against them. Please stop funding these terrorist organizations inadvertently in name of exchange of culture and artists and donate some money to the funding of education, livelihood and work for the families and children of the soldiers killed by these Pakistani soldiers and terrorist organizations, if you are a true patriot.

 It is a well known fact that an actor’s son will become an actor or a director’s son will choose a career in the bollywood only. In India, 99% of the past or present politicians or their family members have never served in armed forces, what to talk of seeing actual combat.. Consider this against the Americans, where majority of the senators and even the Presidents have served in armed forces and seen combat and even Prince of England did a tour of Afghanistan as a helicopter pilot in combat conditions. I have not come across a single person who is from this industry or politics whose children are working in Armed forces and have seen combat.

These Pakistani  actors and artists did not even condemn the attack on Pathankot and Uri even when they were requested by Dr. Subash Chandra ,Chairman of Essel group and Anupam Kher to do it without naming Pakistan and this shows their mindset and attitude. Dr Subash Chandra even stopped the telecast of Pakistani serials in his channel Zindagi even though he incurred a loss of about Rs.60 crores. Wish our bollywood actors and directors showed the same courage. We welcome them with open arms, respect them and love them but what they give us back is these terrorists who kill our own people.

Pakistan does not permit Indian artists to come and work in Pakistan. All these exchanges should be based on reciprocal basis and not loaded on one side. The number as well as the payment for performance has to be equal otherwise it would be better to let them work in Pakistan only. We want peace with Pakistan but not at the cost of our own money being used to kill our own soldiers. We would first like to see that every Indian has a job, food to eat, water to drink and lives a respectable life rather than improving the lives of Pakistani at the cost of our own citizens.

Grant visa to them by all means to come to visit India, meet their relatives, attend marriages or even to come to India for treatment in Indian hospitals and doctors as long as they spend their own money in India which help boost to a very small degree our own economy but not our own money going out of India and being used against us by granting them work visa.  Stop issuing work visa to the Pakistani nationals is my sincere request to the Govt and to the film industry.