Tuesday, July 29, 2008

They Khan't scare us

According to a new report, the Indian Mujahideen has sent e-mails demanding that Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan stop working in Hindi films, or else….

We asked some B-Town producers and directors for their reaction to the attempt at creating a divide within the industry on the basis of religion. Also, would they stop working with the four Khans if threatened? The voices echoed the same sentiment. That the film industry has always been a secular place and they will not let anyone or anything change that.

Farah Khan - Director

The film industry is a very secular place and basically, people here are interested only in success and not caste, creed, religion, where you stay or even if you are a man or woman. Personally, don't attach any importance to who belongs to which caste. After all, I married a Hindu. But let me tell you, that in the film industry, if you are successful, people will work with you irrespective of which God you pray to. And if you are not no one gives a damn, in any case.

Karan Johar - Producer, (Dharma Productions) and director

In the film industry, talent is God and creativity our religion. Our work has involved some of the most prolific Islamic writers like Javed Akhtar, who has written the lyrics for songs like Radha kaise na jale and for bhajans. I believe we are a fraternity where there is no gender, sex or religious bias and we work in tandem together. There may be personal divides but never any religious divide. I won't stop working with anyone. We are all one in the eyes of God. Our film industry has always been the most secular place in the country and the world. I believe very strongly that we are all humans first.

Ekta Kapoor - Producer, Balaji Telefilms and Motion Pictures

It's our choice on which actor we should take in our projects or not. A threat is just that, and should be treated like that. Nobody will take this threat seriously. As an industry, we are very strong. There will never be any apprehension as we are a very secular place. Mumbai itself is very secular with TV, and film artists and technicians all working together without any religious bias. It's going to take much more than terrorists to strike terror in our hearts. We have much more terror striking us every day.

Kunal Kohli - Director

We are a secular country and we will work with everybody. We are not from any religion but from India. There are so many workers from so many different religions working in tandem with each other in India and that's the beauty of our country. After every blast every city has gone back to being normal. That's the Indian spirit. We have to learn that resilience and survival of the human spirit from the common man.

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