Some want to boycott Khan’s movie Dangal.
By Sreekanth A Nair
Actor Aamir Khan has again attracted controversial comments from some twitter users after he professed his love for India.
On Monday, while celebrating the 10th-anniversary event of ‘Rang de Basanti’ in Mumbai, the actor had said that he had never thought of leaving India.
“I love my country, I was born here and I will die here. I have never thought of leaving India and will never take such a step,” he said.
“I never said India is intolerant or I want to leave the country… these two things have been said to everyone. So, obviously, people will get hurt and I understand their emotions. I am not surprised they are angry with me. But, there is no truth to this all,” he added.
He went one more step further and said: “I want to clear this; I have never said India is intolerant. Our country is diverse with so many languages, culture… no other country has so much diversity as India and that’s the strength of our country. But, despite this strength, if anybody tries to break us, that hurts me. Let’s not make this country weak. Let’s not spread poison and let’s live together.”
On Twitter, some called Khan’s comments opportunistic while some others argued that Aamir’s next movie Dangal will be released this year and he is trying to avoid the consequences his movie may face as experienced by Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Dilwale’ due to his comments on intolerance.
While speaking at the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism awards in last November, Aamir Khan had said that his wife Kiran Rao had expressed her concerns about raising communal clashes and was thinking of leaving the country.
“When I chat with Kiran at home, she says, ‘should we move out of India?’ That’s a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make. She fears for her child. She fears what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every day. That does indicate that there is this sense of growing disquiet, there is growing despondency apart from alarm,” he said.
His comments had attracted criticism from different quarters especially from BJP leaders, and actors like Anupam Kher, and Paresh Rawal.
This time, the hashtag #BoycottDangal has appeared on Twitter asking people to boycott Aamir’s upcoming movie Dangal and it was trending on Monday and Tuesday.
The film directed by Nitesh Tiwari, in which Aamir plays the role of a wrestler, is expected to release in December this year.