Recently, there has been a lot of chatter about Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha, boycott calls for the film, why no one is going to watch it, and why it is turning out to be one of the biggest disasters in the history of the Indian movie industry. Amidst all this, Kanchan Gupta, the veteran journalist and senior adviser to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting took to Twitter on August 12 to share how he was dropped as a columnist by Mid Day for writing an article “lampooning Aamir Khan for his statement savaging India.”
Sharing excerpts from his article written in the year 2015 in a Tweet thread, the veteran journalist tweeted, “Thread on my last column for @mid_day lampooning Aamir Khan for his statement savaging #India. MidDay’s editor wrote to me saying she had decided to drop me as a columnist. I wrote back, saying, Thank you. Either she or MidDay or both were petrified of the Bwood Gang.”
Thread on my last column for @mid_day lampooning Aamir Khan for his statement savaging #India 🇮🇳.
— Kanchan Gupta 🇮🇳 (@KanchanGupta) August 11, 2022
MidDay’s editor wrote to me saying she had decided to drop me as a columnist. I wrote back, saying, Thank you.
Either she or MidDay or both were petrified of the Bwood Gang.
n1
In his last Tweet, Kanchan Gupta shared the link to the article he wrote for Mid Day on November 25, 2015. He further revealed how Mid Day’s editor not only removed “India” from the article’s headline but also shot out an email cancelling him for his article against Aamir Khan.
The veteran journalist, in his article, had narrated a folktale to indirectly take a dig at the actor. “Some may believe that folktales belong to the past and are irrelevant for our times. But it’s amazing how they reflect contemporary more irrespective of their vintage. For instance, there’s a Cossack folktale I have often recounted because it helps explain attitudes and concerns of our times. It is as relevant today as it was when first told. So here’s the story, marginally garnished, told all over again”, read an excerpt from Kanchan Gupta’s article.
He recounted the Cossack folktale in his article, to criticise Aamir Khan for his insulting, disparaging remark on India. Using the folktale as an example, the journalist implied that there are always some people who have drastically opposed perspectives on any given subject and have a propensity of criticising and rejecting what the majority says or thinks.
“Then along came the resident journalist of ‘Pravda’, a Cossack ‘intellectual’. He walked around the stallion, lifted its tail, sniffed and declared, in a tone similar to that of #LeftLiberal opedists/activists, “The horse stinks.” Thank you Aamir Khan for your view of #India,” tweeted the journalist, sharing the excerpt from his 2015 article.
Further, sharing the link to his Mid Day article, the senior journalist wondered if the editor was afraid of the ‘Bollywood gang,’ which had driven her to take this decision.
Notably, shortly after the untimely death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, many celebrities opened up about a prevalent ‘gang’ in Bollywood comprising of a few powerful names and second-generation producers who want to hold the power over the rest of the industry.
Controversy surrounds Aamir Khan and his new release Laal Singh Chadda
Meanwhile, Aamir Khan’s new release Laal Singh Chadda has been embroiled in controversies owing to the actor’s past problematic statements. The movie tanked at the box officer with its collection so far being extremely abysmal. As a result of a low turnout and cancelled shows on the first day, the exhibitors even decided to reduce 1300 shows of the film on Friday 12th August 2022 when the actual weekend starts.
People from every walk of life have been calling for a boycott of the film. Recently, former England international cricketer Monty Panesar also asked everyone to boycott the film over its portrayal of the Indian Army and the Sikhs.
Monty Panesar is not the first one to call for a boycott of the film
Boycott calls against Aamir Khan’s Lal Singh Chaddha have mired the promotion of the big-budget movie that is the official remake of Tom Hanks’ classic Forrest Gump. Aamir Khan’s anti-India statements in the past, his negative and derogatory portrayal of Hindu Gods in his movie PK and his overtly political statements of the past have all been adding to the prevailing sentiments of rejection among the audience of Hindi cinema.
Even Kareena Kapoor’s past statements mocking the audience and participating in politically motivated campaigns have given rise to negative sentiments against the movie.
