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Journalism of Courage
Film director Shekhar Kapur was criticised on Twitter by renowned lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar after the film director claimed he was always in “fear of intellectuals” and their acceptance felt like the bite of a “snake”. Kapur’s remark garnered a lot of attention online on Sunday, which the lyricist slammed without mincing words and suggested that the filmmaker should see a “good psychiatrist”.
Claiming he was a “refugee”, the Masoom director wrote, “Started life as refugee of Partition. Parents gave everything to make a life for kids. Was always in fear of ‘intellectuals’.”
He went on to add how intellectuals made him feel “small” and “insignificant” and only acknowledged him after his films were successful. “Then suddenly embraced me after my films. I still fear them. Their embrace is like a bite of snake,” his tweet said.
Akhtar retorted by asking why he still feels like a refugee and also asked who were the intellectuals who embraced him. Kapur’s remark came after 49 eminent personalities wrote a letter to the Prime Minister stating that the statement ‘Jai Shri Ram’ has become a war cry.
“What do you mean by still a refugee Does it mean that you feel like an outsider n not an Indian n you don’t feel that this is your motherland. If in India you are still a refugee where will you not feel like a refugee, In Pakistan? Cut this melodrama, you poor rich but lonely guy,” Akhtar wrote in his first tweet.
Asking who the ‘intellectuals’ were who embraced Kapur, Akhtar added, “Shekhar saheb you are not well. You need help. Come on, there is no shame in meeting a good psychiatrist.”
In a third tweet, Akhtar wrote, “You introduce yourself as neither prejudiced by the past nor afraid of the future living in this moment and in the same breath you say you are a refugee of partition and still a refugee. One doesn’t need a magnifying glass to see the contradiction.”
Kapur responded to one of Akhtar’s tweets with a tweet that said: “No. It means once you are a refugee, you feel a gypsy.” He did not elaborate or respond to any of the other tweets.
Kapur’s tweet and Akhtar’s response sparked a debate on Twitter, with many asking the filmmaker whether it was wrong to ask the prime minister to take action against mob lynchings against minorities, and whether it required an individual to be an intellectual to take a stand. Many criticised Kapur and called him “privileged”.
https://twitter.com/IshitaYadav/status/1155415761466171393
https://twitter.com/PallaviSharmars/status/1155158767790522369
https://twitter.com/intellectroll/status/1155707114020642821
https://twitter.com/SeemaAlam/status/1155686796614873088
https://twitter.com/collegeblues/status/1155685549379710976
https://twitter.com/shuvankr/status/1155650661758824448
Kapur has since tweeted multiple times and hasn’t responded to the criticism.
