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‘If there was communal bias, how would Dilip Kumar, Shah Rukh, Salman, Aamir become stars?’: Arun Govil responds to AR Rahman’s remarks

Arun Govil, BJP MP and actor who played Rama in Ramanand Sagar's TV series Ramayan and plays Dasharath in the upcoming film adaptation of the Ramayana, dismisses AR Rahman's claims that the Hindi film industry has become 'communal'.

3 min readMumbaiUpdated: Jan 25, 2026 04:36 PM IST

Arun Govil weighs in on AR Rahman's "communal" remark.

Arun Govil, BJP MP and Ramayan actor, has now weighed in on Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman’s recent remarks that he may have lost out on work opportunities in the Hindi film industry possibly because of a “communal thing”. Govil has claimed that the film industry is the “only industry where there’s no communal bias,” quoting examples of Muslim superstars across the years.

What Arun Govil said

“Earlier, we’ve had actors like Dilip Kumar, he was the king of the industry in his time. Even today, Shah Rukh, Salman, Aamir, they are all stars, if there were communal bias, how would they have become stars,” Arun Govil said, adding “In our industry, it has never happened where people have not got work due to communal bias. There are examples of this in our industry. In our industry, people of every religion have worked. Even today, there is no such thing. In fact, the film industry is the only industry where there is no communal bias.” Govil made these remarks on the sidelines of an event organised on Friday evening by the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) and the Cine Artiste Welfare Trust (CAWT), where he was honoured for representing in Parliament the interests and issues faced by people in the Indian film and television industry.

AR Rahman, Arun Govil part of Ramayana

Interestingly, Arun Govil plays King Dasharath, the father of Rama, in Nitesh Tiwari’s upcoming two-part film adaptation of Indian epic, the Ramayana. Govil has previously essayed Rama in Ramanand Sagar’s seminal TV adaptation Ramayan, which began airing on Doordarshan in 1987.

AR Rahman is also a part of the Ramayana film adaptation, as he co-composes the score with fellow Oscar winner, legendary Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer. “I studied in a Brahmin school, and every year we had Ramayana and Mahabharata, so I know the story,” Rahman told BBC Asian Network, adding, “Hanz Zimmer is Jewish, I am Muslim, and the Ramayana is Hindu.”

AR Rahman’s initial remarks and clarification

Last week, AR Rahman confessed in the same interview that there’s been a “power shift” in the Hindi film industry in the past six years. “People who are not creative have the power now to decide things, and this might have been a communal thing also, but not in my face. It comes to me as Chinese whispers that they booked you, but the music company went ahead and hired their five composers,” he said.

Also Read — RGV dismisses AR Rahman’s communal claim: ‘Film industry is only about making money, don’t care about caste, religion’

However, upon a lot of backlash, Rahman took to social media a couple of days later and issued a video clarification. “I understand that intentions can sometimes be misunderstood, but my purpose has always been to uplift, honour, and serve through music. I have never wished to cause pain, and I hope my sincerity is felt,” he said.

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