Amitabh blasts lack of free speech, SRK blames narrow-mindedness

On Thursday, Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan brought up the issue of free speech and censorship in the film industry over the years, while Shah Rukh Khan spoke about the negativity on social media. This was at the inauguration ceremony of the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival, which was also attended by West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, actors Rani Mukerji and Shatrughan Sinha, and Bangladesh's own Chanchal Chowdhury.

 "I am sure that my colleagues would agree that questions are being raised on civil liberties and freedom of expression," said Big B.

Shah Rukh Khan, whose upcoming release "Pathaan" is in the limelight for all the wrong reasons, spoke about the "narrow-mindedness" of the views of people who reside there.

Photo: Partha Paul/The Indian Express

The statement was in the backdrop of calls on social media for a boycott of "Pathaan" from overeager critics due to the stars' dressup, and a multitude of reasons.

 "We need to use the power of cinema as a vehicle for people of different cultures, colours, castes and religions to better understand each other". "Through endeavours like KIFF, the endeavour is to build new platforms to break existing prejudices," said SRK.

Bachchan also spoke about legendary director Satyajit Ray, and whether his reaction to the current scenario would be much like that of the protagonist of his 1990 film, "Ganashatru".