Author: Correspondent
Publication: NDTV
Date: February 3, 2010
URL: http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/jaya_bachchans_stand_on_srk_vs_shiv_sena.php
As theatre-owners in Mumbai faced huge pressure
from the Shiv Sena to bring down posters of Shah Rukh Khan's film, Amitabh
Bachchan blogged lavish praise for Bal Thackeray.
His wife, Jaya Bachchan, in an exclusive interview
to NDTV, said Bollywood comes together for "national causes". She
was replying to a question on why Bollywood and her own family has not supported
Shah Rukh against the Sena. Shah Rukh's statement that Pakistani players should
be a part of the Indian Premier League has angered the Shiv Sena.
"I had my battle. I fought it single-handedly
with the support of my family," said Bachchan, referring to her own run-in
with Raj Thackeray and his party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), in
2008. At a Bollywood event, Jaya Bachchan had said that because she is from
Uttar Pradesh, she wanted to speak in Hindi.
MNS workers attacked a cinema where Amitabh
Bachchan's film, The Last Lear, was meant to premiere. Amitabh Bachchan issued
a formal apology after an explanation on his blog was rejected by Thackeray.
Even while accepting Bachchan's apology, an
aggressive Thackeray said Jaya Bachchan should stick to delivering dialogue
written for her, instead of extemporising.
The Maharashtra Chief Minister, Ashok Chavan,
has said that "Strict action will be taken against anyone who tries to
disrupt screening of Shah Rukh Khan's film 'My Name Is Khan'."
The Congress was also in power when Bachchan
was threatened by the MNS. Pointing out that no such support was offered to
her, Bachchan said, on the issue of North Indians being attacked in Mumbai,
"It's very unfortunate that today the government is talking about it,
they are posturing differently. When something starts, if you think it's wrong,
it should be squashed then. But you did not make an effort, because at that
time it did not suit you."
