BJP MP and Ramayan actor Arun Govil has weighed in on Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman’s recent comments that he may have lost job opportunities in the Hindi film industry, possibly due to a “communal thing”. Govil has claimed that the film industry is the “only industry where there is no communal bias”, citing examples of Muslim superstars over the years.
What Arun Govil said
“Earlier, we have had actors like Dilip Kumar, he was the king of the industry in his time. Even today, Shah Rukh, Salman, Aamir, they are all stars, if there was communal prejudice, how would they have become stars,” said Arun Govil, adding, “In our industry, it has never happened that people do not get jobs due to communal prejudice. There are examples of this in our industry. In our industry, people of all religions have worked. Even today, no There is such a thing. In fact, “the film industry is the only industry where there is no communal bias.” Govil made these remarks on the sidelines of an event organized by the Federation of Western India Cinema Employees (FWICE) and Cine Artiste Welfare Trust (CAWT) on Friday night, where he was honored for representing in Parliament the interests and issues faced by people in the Indian film and television industry.
AR Rahman, Arun Govil part of Ramayana
Interestingly, Arun Govil plays King Dasharath, Rama’s father, in Nitesh Tiwari’s upcoming two-part film adaptation of the Indian epic, the Ramayana. Govil had already essayed Rama in Ramanand Sagar’s seminal television adaptation Ramayan, which began airing on Doordarshan in 1987.
AR Rahman is also part of the film adaptation of Ramayana, as he co-composes the soundtrack with fellow Oscar winner, legendary Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer. “I studied in a Brahmin school and every year we had Ramayana and Mahabharata, so I know the history,” Rahman told BBC Asian Network, adding: “Hanz Zimmer is Jewish, I am muslimand the Ramayana is Hindu.”
Initial comments and clarifications by AR Rahman
Last week, AR Rahman confessed in the same interview that there has been a “power shift” in the Hindi film industry in the last six years. “People who are not creative now have the power to decide things, and this could have been a community issue too, but not to my face. It comes to me like a Chinese whisper that they hired you, but the music company went ahead and hired their five composers,” he said.
However, faced with many negative reactions, Rahman took to social media a couple of days later and issued an explanatory video. “I understand that intentions can sometimes be misinterpreted, but my purpose has always been to uplift, honor and serve through music. I have never wished to cause pain and I hope my sincerity is felt,” he said.