India’s NDTV reported the the “Dabang” Mega Star Salman Khan as saying, “If someone wants a Pakistani actor who can portray a role better, nobody can put a constraint. Bollywood has a huge number of fans in Pakistan and earns a good share of income from the neighbouring country.”
Salman believes in keeping art and entertainment separate from politics because art does not have any boundaries. “Politics and art should not be mixed. This is not what common people want,” he added.
“Now that everything is digital, Indians love to watch each and every entertainment show, including popular Pakistani shows. So, art and entertainment have no boundaries. Entertainment is evaluated by what common people want to watch,” the 49-year-old said regarding the ongoing intolerance by the Shiv Sena regarding Pakistani artists in India.
Earlier, Shah Rukh Khan also addressed the ‘growing intolerance’ across the border. In an answer to a question posed on Twitter, King Khan accepted that Indian society was suffering from widespread intolerance and the biggest mistake a patriot can make is to go against secularism in India.
SRK also said he would join the bandwagon and return his awards like many artists have been doing in a symbolic gesture, if asked to. “Yes, as a symbolic gesture I would give it up… I do think there is intolerance. There is extreme intolerance,” he added.
Being a Muslim in India, he admitted to facing criticisms and often being involved in controversy because of his statements. However, he stayed strong and said, “No one can question my patriotism. How dare anyone?”
SRK’s co-star in his upcoming movie Raees, Mahira Khan, was among the artists targeted by Shiv Sena. Actor Fawad Khan and singers Ghulam Ali also faced similar ‘bans’.
