Prakash Raj recently said in an interview that half of his film industry colleagues are afraid to speak about socio-political issues and the other half is sold. The actor pressed on the importance of speaking up and raising voice on issues.

In an interaction with The Lallantop, Prakash was asked if the Hindi film industry is less vocal about socio-political issues as compared to the South film industry and Punjab film industry. He replied, “Any powerful government will stop discussions. Secondly, it should be within the artists also. They should also have the consciousness of the kind of films that they make, they should be willing to fight to release the film. That resilience is needed.”

Speaking about his colleagues, he said, “Half of them are sold, my own colleagues, and half of them are afraid because they don’t have the strength. I have a very close friend who, told me, ‘Prakash aap mein dum hai, aap bol sete hai, mein nahi bol pata (You have the strength, you can speak up, I can’t).’ I told him that I understand but I can’t excuse him because in future, when history would be written, it will forgive those who committed crimes but not those who were silent. Everybody is responsible.”

Prakash also said in the same interview that he has been getting less work in the Hindi film industry due to his political views. “It’s not that you won’t get work, you do and you will, but not as much. They are just worried that if they work with us in a film, they won’t get what they expect. So, this is part and parcel of it. This environment is like that. It makes me stronger to say that this is not right, so we will have to fight, we will have to raise our voice.”

The actor is known for acting in Hindi films like Wanted (2008), Singham (2011) and Heropanti (2014), among others. He was last seen in the Tamil film, Retro, headlined by Suriya.