Actor Prakash Raj is known to be vocal about his political opinions and has never shied from expressing them. In a recent interview, the Wanted actor shared his thoughts on how Bollywood decides to stay silent on political issues. He mentioned that while many are afraid, ‘half of them are sold’ and the other half is afraid.
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In an interview with Lallantop, Prakash emphasized that any government will try to suppress discussion. However, filmmakers should continue to make important films, and have the resilience to push for the release of the their films.
‘Artists should be willing to fight for films’
“Any powerful government will stop discussions. Secondly, it should be within the artists also. They should also have the consciousness of the kind of films that they make, they would be willing to fight to release the film. That resilience is needed,” Prakash said.
The National award winning actor was also blunt while talking about his colleagues, “Half of them are sold, my own colleagues, and half of them are afraid because they don’t have the strength. I have a very close friend who, told me, ‘Prakash aap mein dum hai, aap bol sete hai, mein nahi bol pata (You have the strength, you can speak up, I can’t).’ I told him that I understand but I can’t excuse him because in future, when history would be written, it will forgive those who committed crimes but not those who were silent. Everybody is responsible,” Prakash said.
Prakash was also asked about not getting enough roles in the industry because of his activism.
“They are just worried that if they work with us in a film, they won’t get what they expect. So, this is part and parcel of it. This environment is like that. It makes me stronger to say that this is not right, so we will have to fight, we will have to raise our voice.”
When asked whether actors lose opportunities for speaking up, he responded, “It’s not that you won’t get work, you do and you will, but not as much.”
