Veteran
screenwriter
Javed
Akhtar
today
warned
"bigots" to
be
wary
of
communalising
the
Indian
film
industry,
which
he
termed
as
"the
citadel
of
secularism".
The
73-year-old
lyricist-writer's
comments
come
after
India-based
French
journalist
Francois
Gautier
had
responded
to
reports
of
a
planned
on-screen
adaptation
of
Mahabharat,
in
which
Aamir
Khan
could
possibly
play
Krishna,
highlighting
the
Bollywood
star's
religion.
Without
naming
Gautier,
Akhtar,
who
has
spent
53-years
in
films,
asked
people
to
stop
spreading
hatred
in
the
name
of
faith
in
the
field
of
cinema.
"I
had
joined
film
industry
in
1965
on
a
salary
of
50
rupees
per
month.
In
these
53
years
not
for
a
second
I
have
experienced
or
even
seen
any
communal
bias
in
our
industry.
"This
film
industry
is
the
citadel
of
secularism.
Bigots,
don't
try
to
pollute
it," he
tweeted
today.
Gautier
had
tweeted,
"Why
should
@AamirKhan,
a
Muslim,
play
in
most
ancient
&
sacred
of
Hindu
epics,
the
Mahabharata?
Is
@BJP4India
Govt
of
@narendramodi
going
to
be
like
the
@INCIndia
&
just
stand
by
in
name
of
secularism???
Would
Muslims
allow
a
Hindu
to
play
life
of
Mohamed?"
Akhtar
had
earlier
slammed
the
journalist
for
behaving
like
a
PR
machine,
calling
him
"clueless" about
Indian
history
and
films.
"Can
somebody
educate
this
clueless
idiot
Gautier
that
a
film
Mahabharata
was
made
in
1965
and
had
become
a
super
hit.
The
producer's
name
was
Ghaffar
Bhai
Nadiadwala.
This
is
India
that
we
are
proud
of.
Can
some
body
explain
it
to
the
dimwit," Akhtar
had
written
earlier.
While
promoting
Secret
Superstar,
Aamir
Khan
had
said,
"
"My
dream
project
is
to
make
the
Mahabharata
but
I'm
afraid
of
starting
the
project
as
I
know
it
will
consume
at
least
15-20
years
of
my
life."
He
had
further
added,
"My
favourite
character
is
Karna,
but
I
don't
know
if
I'll
be
able
to
play
him
due
to
my
physique.
I
may
just
have
to
play
Krishna.
I
also
liked
the
character
of
Arjun.
He
was
the
only
person
who
asked
Krishna
why
he
had
to
kill
his
own
people."