Kabir Khan thinks that there is a strong PR and spin campaign due to which any form of dissent is deemed to be anti national, anti-Indian. Kabir fails to understand how dissent can be unpatriotic.
Indian Express spoke to Kabir following the announcement of his first collaboration with Amazon Prime. Kabir will be directing a mini-series based on the Indian National Army and the many women who contributed to it. Kabir has always been a political, and politically aware person. And therefore, he puts his politics in his films. He says:
“New York was my first mainstream film. It had mainstream actors, mainstream setting and a big budget. I put this whole world of politics in it and I heard this a lot, ‘Don’t put politics in the film’, It was considered a big taboo in movies. But I said I don’t know how to operate that.”
Kabir has been asked many times to keep his views to himself. “It’s not worth it,” is the common refrain. But the director says that it would be quite hypocritical on his part if he takes a diplomatic route in his real life, when his films – from Kabul Express to Bajrangi Bhaijaan– chronicles human stories against political backdrops.
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“The greatness of this country should be that we should be able to discuss and debate everything for the betterment of our country. The problem with this current disposition is that a clever narrative has been spun around that if you say anything against the ruling party or anything against the government, it is equal to saying something against the country. Since when did the government of a country ever represent a country? The country has been around for thousand years. Governments come and go. But they have been able to cleverly spin around this. The moment you say anything against the government, you are anti-India, and asked to go to Pakistan. Kyun jaayein hum Pakistan? Nahi jaana humein. (Why should we go to Pakistan? We will not go to Pakistan.)”, says Kabir.