MUMBAI: Legendary film star and politician, Shatrughan Sinha has said that there is no unity in Bollywood, friendship in the industry is only on-screen and media is taking advantage of a divided Bollywood.

“Groups within the industry or their supporters may sometimes come together for some common interest. If there is a controversy they don’t want to get involved. I am not criticizing. It could be due to some fear or it may be their own attitude not to bother. In the true sense, there is no unity, friendship, camaraderie, mutual love in Bollywood.”

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Sinha was in a live webcast with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now, during the Visionary Talk series, held by the public policy and governance analysis platform.

The veteran actor and senior politician lamented that unity, mutual respect, love, and friendship is only limited to and seen onscreen, and in reality that is not the case. Citing with an example he recalled that when late Satyajit Ray, the renowned film director, writer, and music composer who was a recipient of Bharat Ratna and the Oscar Awards passed away, a condolence meeting was organized at Mehboob Studios in Mumbai. “I was shocked to see that not even 70 people were present there and no film star had come to pay their obeisance to the late filmmaker,” Sinha said.

‘Groups within the industry or their supporters may sometimes come together for some common interest. If there is a controversy they don’t want to get involved. I am not criticizing. It could be due to  some fear or it may be their attitude, that why bother.”

He quoted his friend and noted, Bollywood director, Subhash Ghai and said that the film director always says friendship in the film industry is like a leave and license agreement and lasts only 11 months of film shooting.

While speaking on a group of film stars and producers coming together to file a plea in Delhi High Court against ‘media trial of Bollywood personalities, Sinha said, “today, I hear when some people from the industry have come together and raised their voice against some news channels. I would like to say, ‘Badi Der Kardi Meherbaan Aate Aate’ (O merciful, you have taken too long to come). I wish that this unity persists, but most often this has not been the case. And for this reason, they have been taken advantage of. Earlier they would chase politicians”

He said that while the film fraternity may not come out to support each other openly due to fear or some other reason, they are in fact quite simple. “Because they don’t come out to speak in open, they are a whipping horse and soft targets.

 Further, the senior actor in a scathing attack on news channels said that news channels are continuing to exceed limits of decency. To create sensationalism, an issue is stretched out like rubber. “There is excessive slandering and disrespect. Some news channel anchors point fingers, rebuke, and berate their guests as if they were their employees. Due to shouting and abusing news programs people have now stopped accepting news channel invites. Who will want to go to get insulted and have abuses hurled at them” he asked and added that he in fact the negativity and toxicity of news channels provide a source of entertainment to him before he retires to sleep at night.”         

On the drugs issue in the film industry, Sinha said “that there are black sheep in all industries to paint the entire industry with the same the brush is nor correct.”

Sinha said the channels are learning their lessons and slowly and will surely turn around. “The agenda is set by a media house, a political party or politicians and it’s a confluence of publicity and anti-publicity. News has become crude entertainment and will have to reinvent itself” he said.

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