“Hindi film industry is always a soft target” – Salman Khan

By Faridoon Shahryar -

January 13, 2014 - 5:12 AM IST

"I don't think there's any other industry that does for people as much as the film industry. No other industry does the kind of work, the kind of charity that the film industry does," stated Salman Khan in an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama's Faridoon Shahryar. Khan, along with a few other Bollywood stars has been caught up in the political cross fire for performing at the recently concluded Saifai Mahotsav in Etawa, Uttar Pradesh. "I had to go and do what I did. Press is doing their job, I'm reacting to it. We were promoting Jai Ho. Two, different things! Promotion of the film and Being Human work was being done in the state (Uttar Pradesh)," Salman clarified his stance.

Members of the Youth Initiative for Peace and Harmony (YIPH) have declared that they will boycott Jai Ho since Salman performed at the Saifai Mahotsav and they feel that he instead should have been concerned with the Muzaffarnagar riot victims who are dying because of hunger due to the cold. "Oh really, they are more than welcome to do that," said Salman whose NGO Being Human has committed to help 200 children undergo peadiatric heart surgeries in UP and has donated Rs 25 lacs to the Jawahar lal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh for the purchase of Echo Cardiology machine for children suffering from heart ailments.

Be it My Name Is Khan, Aarakshan or the more recent Ram Leela and now this threat to Jai Ho, Bollywood has always lived under the glooming threat of cultural, religious or political zealots. "The Hindi film industry is always a soft target. Like you say this group in Aligarh is going to ban Jai Ho in Aligarh. Ab Khuda na khaasta kisi ne paththar maar diya aur kisi fan ko lag gaya, why! You are harming somebody. Collections affect ho jaate hain, it's a huge drama, huge hungama. Hum survive kar jaayen lekin producers survive nahin kar paayenge. The theatre owners will not be able to survive it. Perhaps they'll not be able to harm us but we are scared for the other people. We are not scared for us, ki hamaari film nahin chali, collections down ho gaye, aage film milegi ki nahin. Simple people, the theatre owners, people selling tickets at the ticket counter, the guy who shows people where to sit in the theatre with a torch, they are hundred percent affected," Salman said with hurt and concern.

It is about time that Bollywood is stopped being treated frivolously and the tremendous reach of our films gets the due respect and regard that it deserves. Please share your thoughts in the comments section if you agree with Salman's thought provoking statements.

“Hindi film industry is always a soft target” – Salman Khan