Veteran actor and Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan on Tuesday charged that the film industry was being defamed and slammed those from the entertainment industry indulging in it, saying they are biting the hands that feed them.
Though Bachchan did not take any names, her remarks come a day after BJP’s Lok Sabha MP and Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan said there was problem of drug addiction in the film industry and also actor Kangana Ranaut’s recent remarks calling Bollywood a “gutter”.
Through a Zero Hour mention in Rajya Sabha, Bachchan said the entertainment industry was being flogged by social media and asked the government to protect and support it.
Without taking names, the Samajwadi Party MP said she completely disagrees with those who called the entertainment industry a “gutter”.
“People who have made a name in this industry have called it a gutter. I completely disagree and I really disassociate,” she said.
In a reference to Kishan’s statement in Lok Sabha on the alleged Bollywood drug cartel, Bachchan said she was “really embarrassed and ashamed.”
“Jis thali mein khate hai Usme chhed karte hai. Galat baat hai,” she said referring to a popular Hindi proverb that means to bite the hands that feed you.
Meanwhile, the veteran actress came in for fulsome praise from many of her colleagues in Bollywood for raising her voice in the House against those defaming the Hindi film industry.
While the Producers Guild of India as well as Anubhav Sinha, Farhan Akhtar, Sonam Kapoor and Tapsee Pannu were among those who lauded Bachchan, actor Kangana Ranaut put out a caustic tweet criticising her for the speech. (PTI)
