BOLLYWOOD BASHING PM MODI SILENCES PARTY MOTORMOUTHS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had warned all his party members against making ‘unnecessary comments on the movies’

ROBIN ROY

The writer is Senior Journalist and former Managing Editor, First India

On January 5, 2023, veteran action star Suniel Shetty had urged the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, to help the Bollywood film industry get rid of the ‘Boycott Bollywood’ trend.

Shetty said this when CM Yogi Adityanath had met members of the Bollywood fraternity in Mumbai.

Shetty had said, “Hashtag ‘BoycottBollywood’ can stop with your help. It’s important to convey that we’ve done good work. There can be one rotten apple but 99 percent of us don’t indulge in any wrongdoing. We’ve to change this perception. If you take the lead and also talk to the PM, it will make a difference.”

The hashtag ‘Boycott Bollywood’ had started trending after actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s untimely demise.

CUT — 2

It may be noted that on Last Tuesday, PM Narendra Modi’s warning to party workers to avoid ‘unnecessary comments’ on films amid boycott calls was hailed widely by the film fraternity. PM Modi’s statement came amid protests from BJP leaders like Ram Kadam and Narottam Mishra.

CM ADITYANATH HARD-SELLS UP

CM Yogi recently invited prominent members from the entertainment industry to explore his state as a film-making destination.

CM Yogi said under his government’s film policy, if a web series is filmed in UP, it will be given a 50 per cent subsidy. Likewise, a 25 per cent subsidy is given for setting up studios and film labs. CM Yogi also met Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd, after interacting with Bollywood members

“If the PM snubs his own people and tells them to shut up and not talk nonsense against the film industry, which is not their area, for mere publicity, it is a big boost of confidence for the industry. That the PM of the country is with you. The signal goes to not only the politicians, but even people from the media, our own industry itself,” Ashoke Pandit, president of the Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA) said in an interview to Indian Express.

PM Narendra Modi had laid down a series of dos and don’ts for party leaders on Wednesday at the end of the two-day National Executive of the BJP.

Meanwhile, as usual there will be people to draw mileage out of everything. When the fraternity was facing