Fear to speak

Bollywood is changing its outlook in a bid to shed its patriarchal form. However, at the same time there’s also a fight to save creative freedom from unwarranted criticism and censure. “Until a few years ago, we could improvise a lot while doing our scenes, but today, we have to think about the reactions. Politics aside, it’s the narrow-mindedness of people that needs to be tackled. Jokes now are viewed through a prism of ethics. People can object to everything today,” says Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who plays Saadat Hassan Manto in his biopic directed by Nandita Das.
Nawaz adds, “Celebrities are often abused on social media. Sometimes I am scared to speak my mind because you never know kitni gaaliyan padengi kuch bolne ke liye nahi pata. People have a lot of angst. Social media has suddenly given everyone a voice, even to those who take undue advantage of it.”