JOIN USNo matter what, people like us will stay positive: SRK amid 'Pathaan' row
While his upcoming film 'Pathaan' continues in controversy for the colour of a costume in a newly released song of the film, actor Shah Rukh Khan, speaking in another context on Thursday said that no matter what the world does, positive people are alive. Khan was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival at Kolkata’s Netaji Indoor Stadium.
Khan’s statement came in the form of a modified dialogue from his upcoming film. The actor talked about negativity on social media and cinema’s role in such a scenario.
“Apni kursi ki peti baand lije mausam bigadne wala hai. Aur kuch dinon se hamlog yahan per nahin aaye hain, aaplogon se mukhatif nahin ho pae hain, aap logon se mil nahin paaye hain, lekin ab duniya normal hogayee hai. Ham sab khush hain. Main sabse zyada khush hoon (fasten your seat belt, the weather is likely to deteriorate. We haven’t come here for a while, haven’t been able to talk to you, haven’t been able to meet you, but now the world has become normal. We all are happy. I am the happiest),” he said.
Continuing to speak, Khan concluded his dialogue, modified: “Aur yeh baat batane main mujhe bilkul bhee aapatti nahin hai ke duniya kuch bhee karle main aur aaplog aur jitne bhee positive log hain sab ke sab zinda hain… (And I have least objection in telling you that whatever the world does, I and you all, and all those people who are ‘positive’, are alive.”
Khan said cinema, and the advent of articulation through social media platforms have now become the foremost expression of human experience and emotion. “The collective narrative of our times is shaped by social media and contrary to the belief that the spread of social media will affect cinema negatively, I believe cinema has an even more important role to play now. Social media is often driven by a certain narrowness of few…,” he said.
The actor added that he had read somewhere that negativity increases social media consumption and increases its commercial value in turn. “Cinema exposes the vulnerability of human nature by telling stories in their simplest forms as they are lived. It allows us to know each other better. In a way it is best placed to sustain a collective counter narrative that speaks to the larger nature of humankind, a narrative that brings to the fore humanity’s immense capacity for compassion, unity and brotherhood,” Khan added.
Mamata Banerjee for Bharat Ratna to Amitabh Bachchan
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that it’s appropriate to present India’s highest civilian award to veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan. Bachchan, who has turned 80, was in Kolkata to declare the city’s 28th international film festival open. Though (it’s) not being put forth officially but we will raise a voice from Bengal, Bharat Ratna for Amitabh Bachchanji, Banerjee said.