Veteran actor and Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan is known to be one of the few parliamentarians who, unlike others from the industry, has taken part in debates and discussions, freely sharing her opinions. The Samajwadi Party leader, on Tuesday, donned her dual responsibilities as a representative of the Indian film industry, and a Member of Parliament (MP) and raised concerns about the allegations of drug use.
The allegations have come from within the industry. They were initially lobbed by the newly self appointed crusader of all topics, Kangana Ranaut, who after ‘seeking justice’ for the deceased actor Sushant Singh Rajput, has now pivoted from alleging nepotism, to drug use in the film industry. She had even said that tests for narcotic usage should be conducted for those who work in the industry. Something her many fans have caught on to.
However, MP Jaya Bacchan who did not name anyone, raised the issue of such allegations against the film industry saying that it was maligning the industry’s reputation. She accused the insiders making such allegations, without naming anyone, and said it was wrong that they were “biting hands that feed them”, translated from the Hindi proverb she used, “Jis thali mein khate hai Usme ched karte hai. Galat baat hain.”
Bachchan’s remarks in the Rajya Sabha came a day after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member and Lok Sabha MP Ravi Kishan, also a well known Bhojpuri actor, said drug addiction was a problem in Bollywood. In a short but passionate speech in the Rajya Sabha, Jaya Bachchan said she disagreed with such allegations and was upset that the entertainment industry was being abused and called a ‘gutter’, by those who made their living from it.
It was Kangana Ranaut’s who had recently alleged that Bollywood was a “gutter”, among the scores of other charges and allegations she now puts out on social media on a daily basis. Bachchan had moved a suspension notice in the Rajya Sabha to discuss the possibility of a conspiracy to defame the film industry. This comes a day after BJP MP Ravi Kishan raised concerns over drug addiction and linked it to the film industry.
On Tuesday, the second day of the Session, she was introduced by the Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu who allowed her to speak without a mask, and introduced her as a person with a national name and fame. “It is this name which people are now defaming,” said Bachchan, adding that the entertainment industry provided “direct employment everyday to five lakh people and indirect employment to five million, at a time when the financial situation was at a depressing state” and unemployment was a the “worst level” such allegations were being used “to divert the attention of people”.
She said the industry was being “flogged by social media” and alleged the government’s “non support” to the film industry as it is being attacked. “People who have made a name in this industry have called it a gutter. I completely disagree and I really disassociate,” she said adding that the government “tells these people to stop using such language.” She sounded all worked up and emotional and said the government must stand by the entertainment industry, because the industry always stands by the government in many ways, lending support and services. “I was really embarrassed and ashamed that yesterday [Monday, September 14] one of our members in the Lok Sabha, who is from the industry, spoke. I am not taking names. It is a shame,” she said without naming Ravi Kishan she referred to his statement in the Lok Sabha on the alleged Bollywood drug cartel. Bachchan sought the government’s “support and protection” for the industry, and “not kill it.”
However, even though she too was not named by the parliamentarian, actor Kangana Ranaut then decided to hit back at Jaya Bachchan for talking about the allegations she had made, in the Rajya Sabha. Ranaut took to social media and attacked the industry veteran at a personal level asking Bachchan if she would say the same things if it was her daughter Shweta Bachchan “drugged and molested as a teenager,” or son Abhishek Bachchan complained about bullying and harassment and “was found hanging one day”.
Jaya ji would you say the same thing if in my place it was your daughter Shweta beaten, drugged and molested as a teenage, would you say the same thing if Abhieshek complained about bullying and harassment constantly and found hanging one day? Show compassion for us also ? https://t.co/gazngMu2bA
— Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) September 15, 2020
As expected she turned the focus on herself and went on a spree, talking about lack of human resource departments in production houses, lack of redressals, no safety or insurances, etc. She then informed her fans and followers that she had plans and a “full list of reforms that she wanted from the centre government for workers and junior artists” and shared her wish to meet the Prime Minister to discuss those plans.
नायक vs खलनायक pic.twitter.com/bnkoHCO4dO
— Jagat Darak (@jagat_darak) September 15, 2020
Actress Kangana Ranaut has recently been using her massive social media following to reinvent herself as a socio-political crusader and reformer “calling out” all that she sees as going “wrong” in the film industry in particular, and in the country in general. She has compared Mumbai to ‘Pakistan occupied Kashmir’, aligned herself to Kahmiri Pandits who were forced to flee their homeland, launched a campaign against alleged drug cartels, to name a few. Now perhaps, in her latest personal attack on an industry veteran, and seasoned politician Jaya Bachachan, Ranaut may have just dropped the biggest hint yet… exploring a possibility of a Rajya Sabha seat perhaps?
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