Nimrat Kaur on protests against films: I feel, in art, there is no place for politics

Actor Nimrat Kaur feels sad when protests and agitations against films take a violent turn; says she feels “helpless” when actors and filmmakers receive death threats.

Filmmakers and actors often land themselves in trouble when their projects try to tackle religion or socio-political issues. Recently, a group in Hyderabad filed a complaint against internet sensation actor Priya Prakash Varrier’s song in the Malyalam film Oru Adaar Love for hurting religious statements. Earlier, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat, too, got into trouble with Karni Sena, forcing the makers to push the release. Actor Nimrat Kaur feels “sad” when artists aren’t given the freedom to express themselves.

Actor Nimrat Kaur feels “helpless” when protestors dish out death threats to filmmakers and actors.

“I feel that in art, there is no place for politics. These kind of things (protests against films) keep happening. It makes me sad. This happened with filmmaker Karan Johar when he made My Name is Khan (2010). Then Pakistani artists were banned in India. It’s just sad that these things happen and artists are not allowed the freedom to express,” she says.

The 34-year-old actor says that an artist feels “helpless” in such situations. She is apprehensive that this can happen to anyone in the film industry. “Tomorrow it could me. I could be a part of a project and someone might feel that it’s hurting their sentiments. And they can start protesting against me. You feel so helpless in situations like these. A lot of time, money and effort goes into the making of a film. Who would want to do that just to hurt someone’s sentiments? No one is making a film, or a piece of art to hurt anyone,” she says.

Nimrat says that sometimes one is scared for the lives of an artist. “You just hope, and pray that everything goes smoothly and no one gets affected by such events,” she adds.

Interact with the author on Twitter/@sammysamarth