Since a few days now, AR Rahman has been drawing a lot of flak for his remarks about a possible communal bias in Hindi film industry, which he made in a recent interview with BBC. Despite the Academy award winning composer issuing a video statement to clarify his remarks, he continues to receive criticism for the same. Now, Anup Jalota has made some strong remarks about the issue.
Releasing a video statement, Anup stated, “AR Rahman was Hindu before he chose to convert. After he converted to Islam, he did a lot of work, earned fame and people’s love and respect. But if he genuinely feels that he is not getting film work due to his religion, then Rahman should convert back to Hinduism.”
Anup Jalota concluded his statement by saying, “Rahman should have this confidence that he will start getting more films he if converts again or becomes a Hindu again. So this would be my advice to him — that he become a Hindu and see for himself whether he gets film offers or not.”
This is not the first time Anup Jalota has commented on the controversy, though. Earlier on Saturday, the veteran singer had said, responding to Rahman’s remarks about communalism in industry, “This is absolutely not true. He has done the work of 25 years in just five years. What more can be said? He has done a lot of work and delivered many excellent projects.”
Meanwhile, the controversy has elicited many strong reactions from across the industry. While personalities like Imtiaz Ali, Varun Grover, and Javed Akhtar have expressed their faith in Rahman’s intent behind those remarks, others like Shaan, Kangana Ranaut, Shobhaa De have rejected Rahman’s claims, criticising the composer for his remarks.