Why should there be any moral onus on film stars to ‘take a stand’ or ‘do something’?

A couple of days after 26/11 a friend of mine called me and asked me, “Where have all your stars disappeared?” The tone was not very flattering. It was clearly a jibe. And this was only the beginning of various such asides, even before 60 hrs had become 72.

Subsequently, responses from film stars began to trickle in. You had Preity Zinta, Pooja Bedi, Rahul Bose, Shah Rukh, Aamir and many others coming out and voicing their opinions, some passionately and some not so passionately but most of them earnestly.

More rallies and morchas followed with discussions galore on the news channels. Simi Garewal talked about some flags flying over the slums of Mumbai and hailed ‘the Bush way’, Ram Gopal Varma naively decided to tour ground zero with our ex-CM, Amitabh Bachchan got caught with the right gun but the wrong licence and so on and so forth. Then Simi apologised, Ramu remained defiant and Amitabh Bachchan decided to step back and withdraw from the situation, with or without his pistol. While we looked at every move, every word with a magnifying glass, from a higher pedestal.

For instance, that friend of mine and those hundreds like her, who sarcastically asked me, ‘Where have your film stars disappeared at such times?’… My question to them is: good, bad ugly, while all systems lie in a heap around us, disorientation abounds, our minds are in a flux, running helter-skelter, posing a hundred questions and rummaging in this battered mess for a sane thought – our words often scurrying ahead of us – in such circumstances, why should the burden of nobility and composure fall only on famous shoulders, why should there be any moral onus on film stars to ‘take a stand’ or ‘act upon’ or ‘do something’ – any more than the rest of the citizenry?

Their job is to entertain. You may buy the ticket and watch their movies if they do. Don’t, if they don’t. You can accept or reject them as actors, you may accept or reject their films, you can rave about or rubbish their performances, but you cannot pull them up for not being ‘socially conscientious’. That’s their personal matter. They are not obliged to respond or act on every national crisis. If they wish to, it’s their choice, and so be it even if they don’t – Just like it is for you and me. I did not attend any rallies neither did I join any signature campaigns, that was my individual choice. I’d hate somebody getting righteous on me over this issue. I pay my taxes, I try to do my job well, I try and break no laws, I respect every religion. It is the job of our political leaders to look after the matters of the country, and I can only hope that they will try to do their jobs well while I try to do mine. And the same should go for film stars. Including, yes, Salman Khan.