Rahul Gandhi needs to address Madhur Bhandharkar's question: Ashoke Pandit

Mumbai: Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit has come out in support of Madhur Bhandarkar, who recently called out Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi demanding his freedom of expression after he had to cancel his press conference of his upcoming movie 'Indu Sarkar' in Nagpur. Pandit, on Sunday, said that the Congress vice-president needs to answer Bhandarkar's plea. Bhandarkar recently took to Twitter to reveal that he had to cancel his press conference in Nagpur, which was scheduled for Sunday and asked whether he can have his freedom of expression back. In an exclusive conversation with ANI, Pandit said, "Madhur has posed this question to Rahul Gandhi because from the past one year, he only has been talking about freedom of expression and intolerance and has been accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and this government that they don't believe in freedom of expression." He further said, "Talking about the context the film is based on, it's not that there was no Emergency in the country, it's not that Congress was responsible for it, it's all a part of history which, according to me, should be known to the current generation." The 60-year-old feels that if a filmmaker wants to make a movie on any subject, even if legally, there should not be any objection. "So it's important that Rahul Gandhi addresses Madhur Bhandarkar's question. Be it Gandhi or other Congress ministers, who have been giving lectures on freedom of expression and intolerance, like Digvijaya Singh, Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid, or their official spokesperson who comes on television often, someone should explain it to them that the film should be released and that there should be no protests against it." He also said the ministers should realise the fact that film-making is an expensive process and it is vital for the film to release on time. "The ministers should understand that making a film is an expensive process and it is important for the film to release and that too on time. A lot of families are dependent on a film and this profession. It's a loss of crores of rupees if the film is not released. So, I think no one should put the filmmakers', technicians', actors' or anyone else's career at risk," Pandit concluded. The controversial movie 'Indu Sarkar' is based on the Emergency imposed by former prime minister Indira Gandhi. The Congress has objected to the film, saying that it may have portrayed Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi in bad light.