Rajit Kapur on Padmavati controversy: People today have no tolerance, which is appalling

Actor Rajit Kapur feels that people in earlier times were far more tolerant than they are today, says it’s wrong to get offended by almost everything.

Actor Rajit Kapur, who has been a prominent face in Bollywood films and the theatre circuit for over 25 years, doesn’t mince words when you ask him about the growing intolerance towards Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati. “It’s totally ridiculous. We have so many important things to talk about, but what are we really talking about? A period which is gone by, and trying to compare it — why? I don’t understand the hue and cry about it (Padmavati). In some ways, I fee that we were far more progressive a hundred years ago than we are today!” says the actor, who made his debut with Shyam Benegal’s Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda in 1992, and acted in films such as Guzaarish (2010), and more recently, Begum Jaan (2017) and Baar Baar Dekho (2016).

Actor Rajit Kapur will be seen in a short film opposite veteran actor Farida Jalal. (Hindustan Times)

“Today, we are talking about tolerance and universal compatibility, which has gone out of the window suddenly. People’s sentiments are getting hurt, what crap! Like this, anyone’s sentiments can get hurt, then what should I do? Where’s the end to it? It’s appalling that we have absolutely no tolerance today. You have to look at things in a larger perspective, you can’t take everything personally,’ adds Rajit.

He will next be seen in a short film, Mehram, opposite veteran actor Farida Jalal. When asked about his role, he tells us, “He’s the person in-charge of the Haj committee. The film is an emotional journey between the two characters. What the film talks about is, where do you draw the line where rules are concerned. Sometimes, an exception is important, and that’s a judgement call everyone has to take.”

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