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Journalism of Courage
Veteran actor MK Raina has spoken out about the controversy around his exit during a panel discussion at Jaipur Literature Festival 2025 on Friday. He was in conversation with actor and singer Ila Arun, writer Anjula Bedi and moderator Asad Lalljee when he got up and left the stage, apparently in frustration.
“The moderator was asking us questions and, at one point, asked Ila and her co-author to read out the preface from their book,” said Raina to The Indian Express, referring to Parde Ke Peechhey, the new memoir on Arun’s career written by her and Bedi. “Then he asked her to read another section. Ila said she has adapted a play called Peer Ghani, adapted from Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, set in Kashmir. I said that what Bombay filmmakers portray of Kashmir is not realistic. She started reading out a scene from that play. But that went on for 10 to 20 minutes. You can’t do something like this for a session that lasts only 40 minutes.”
The discussion also involved Raina’s new memoir, Before I Forget, about growing up as an aspiring theatre artiste in Kashmir. As reported in multiple publications, Raina also said, “I see bad films about Kashmir, accusing it of all sorts of things. Lousy films… Kashmir is not being represented properly because filmmakers don’t truly understand it.” Later, as Arun performed a scene from Peer Ghani, Raina got up from his seat and walked offstage.
“My session today was wonderful but that one was very strange,” said Raina to Express. “I’ve been to many seminars around the world and there are always some rules and regulations. You can’t just go on a monologue in the middle of a panel discussion. She got up from her seat, walked to the edge of the stage and started talking about what theatrical work she had done in Kashmir. She started singing and the moderator and I kept looking at each other. All I said was that the Kashmir represented in cinema is not real.”
