Reacting to the ban on Vishwaroopam, an angry Anupam Kher says our leaders are indulging in ‘appeasement politics’ Anupam Kher is furious and he is making every effort possible to show his anger and frustration to put across his message that we Indians are responsible for the sorry state of affairs that surround us. While addressing the issue of creative gagging by political parties and self-appointed religious leaders – the case in point being that of Vishwaroopam – Anupam said, “We Indians are responsible for our sorry state. We are used to slavery and taking nonsense from all – Mughals, British and now our own people.” The actor, speaking at a press meet in Delhi, further said, “I’m very sad to hear that in UP, the Samajwadi Party is mulling over banning the Hindi version of Vishwaroopam. Today it is religion, tomorrow it could be anything. No matter what kind of films you make – aap dharmik filmein banaye ya samaajik filmein, if people have to point out something, they will do it in any case. And because we’re giving power to them, by paying heed to what they are saying, tomorrow anyone can stand up and say ‘why do you have this song in the film?’ Or ‘why is the woman dressed in a certain dress?’” Terming the controversy “ridiculous”, Anupam said, “We, as the people of India are shamelessly spineless. As a former Censor Board chief, I condemn the banning of Vishwaroopam. We have a body called the Censor Board that takes care of all such things – if they have cleared the film, I don’t see what the problem is in releasing it? Why should a director send scripts to ten different people for approval? That is not right, and it feels we are going back to the Dark Ages.
