Filmmaker Hansal Mehta has expressed support for comedian Kunal Kamra, who is currently being slammed for his comments about Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Hansal took to social media to condemn both violence and intimidation, and recalled a similar horrifying experience which he had to face 25 years ago. The filmmaker was subjected to similar treatment during the release of his dark comedy Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!!.
In an Instagram post that Hansal Mehta shared, he wrote, “What happened with Kamra is, sadly, not new to Maharashtra. I’ve lived through it myself. Twenty-five years ago, loyalists of the same (then undivided) political party stormed into my office. They vandalised it, physically assaulted me, blackened my face, and forced me to apologise publicly—by falling at the feet of an elderly woman—for a single line of dialogue in my film.”
“The line was harmless, almost trivial. The film had already been cleared by the Censor Board with 27 other cuts. But that didn’t matter. At the so-called “apology” venue, at least 20 political figures arrived in full strength to oversee what can only be described as a public shaming—with 10,000 onlookers and the Mumbai Police watching in silence,” he added.
The horrid incident not only left him with physical scars but also wounded his spirit. “It blunted my filmmaking, muted my courage, and silenced parts of me that took years to reclaim,” he wrote, adding, “No matter how deep the disagreement, no matter how sharp the provocation—violence, intimidation, and humiliation can never be justified. We owe ourselves, and each other, better. We owe ourselves dialogue, dissent, and dignity.”
Read the full Instagram post here
The 36-year-old comedian began a political storm in Maharashtra after he mocked Shinde’s political career in his show. For the unversed, he had modified the lyrics of a popular Hindi movie song to take a dig at him.
In a statement on Monday night, Kamra said he won’t apologize. “Our right to freedom of speech and expression is not only to be used to fawn over the powerful and rich even though today’s media would have us believe otherwise. Your inability to take a joke at the expense of a powerful public figure does not change the nature of my right. As far as I know, it is not against the law to poke fun at our leaders and the circus that is our political system,” he said.
Shiv Sena workers had vandalised a hotel in Mumbai where Kamra’s show was recorded. An FIR was also filed against Kamra. Shiv Sena had demanded his apology for his remarks
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