Sir — This refers to the article, “Aamir, you’ve hurt India” (November 25) by Chandan Mitra. A war of words followed a day after actor Aamir Khan joined the league of those who have been protesting against the rise of intolerance in the country, saying that the spike in sectarian tensions sowed a sense of insecurity and fear in the society and even in his family.
Strangely, adding to the usual political noises — the BJP against and the Opposition in favour of Mr Aamir Khan — there was a lot of sound and fury from his film colleagues as well.
Whether they like it or not, now it is ‘us versus them’ and that’s a sad day indeed for the Indian fan, who prays at their altar every Friday. For the fans, actor Shah Rukh Khan is Rahul of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Salman Khan is Prem of Prem Ratan Dhan Payo.
However, Mr Aamir Khan is an alien, with no name. Veteran actor Akshay Kumar is always the affable Happy Singh.
It will be interesting to see if the divide will be the next worst kept secret of the industry or will it percolate down to how the audience perceives them. While these are questions for the future, the Hindi film industry’s secular credentials are lost for now. It faces a truly unprecedented situation.