Kudos to Pryianka Chopra for sticking her neck out and speaking her mind! She is the first mainstream actress from the Indian film industry to have given her views on the friction between India and Pakistan as a result of which a ban has been imposed on Pakistani artists from working in Bollywood movies by the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA).

Last week, talking to an Indian TV news channel Priyanka C said, “It’s tricky because first of all artists and actors are always held responsible for every big political agenda that happens in the country. Why not businessmen, politicians, doctors and why not anyone else except for public people who are not actors in the movie industry?”

She added she is a patriot and will go with whatever her government decides to keep the country safe. But, she argued, she hasn’t seen any artist who has harmed someone’s life out of malice.

Wow Priyanka C! You have hit the nail right on the head. And given your government a headache.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, October 23rd, 2016