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NCP MP Amol Kolhe under fire for portraying Godse in movie
Maharashtra housing minister and NCP leader Jitendra Awhad said that Kolhe should not have acted in a movie glorifying Godse
Mumbai Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and member of parliament (MP) Amol Kolhe is under fire for portraying Nathuram Godse in an upcoming Hindi movie called ‘Why I killed Gandhi’.
Kolhe, the Lok Sabha lawmaker from Shirur, is a popular TV actor, who shot to fame after playing Chhatrapati Shivaji in a TV series, is facing criticism from his own party, as well as allies in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. State housing minister and NCP leader Jitendra Awhad said that Kolhe should not have acted in a movie glorifying Godse.
“The movie is all about the glorification of Godse…He should have avoided playing the role in the first place,” Awhad said.
The Hindi movie is set to release on OTT platforms on January 30, the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The controversy started after a 2.20-minute trailer of the movie was released on social media. In it, Kolhe can be seen making a statement in a court justifying his decision to assassinate Gandhi.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar tried to draw a curtain on the entire controversy and said that playing Godse doesn’t make Kolhe anti-Gandhi. He also said that he doesn’t see it as an attempt to glorify Godse.
“Playing a character doesn’t mean that he (Amol Kolhe) can be called anti-Gandhi. The entire country is unhappy, sad and agitated over whatever Godse did. I don’t see it as an attempt to glorify him,” Pawar said, adding that t when Kolhe played the role, he was not a part of NCP.
Kolhe joined the party in 2019; the film was made in 2017 (and never had a theatrical release).
Awhad wasn’t mollified, though: “Whoever tries to glorify the person who killed Gandhi is our ideological opponent…While playing a role, one has to immerse in the character and ultimately shoot Gandhiji. When you see Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi, then you see the actor living the life of Gandhi. Accepting the role of Godse was a wrong decision.”
Clarifying his stand on social media, Kolhe on Thursday said that although the film is being released now, it was shot in 2017. He also urged people to differentiate between ‘reel life’ and ‘real life’.
“Sometimes, one comes across roles where you do not agree with the ideology but they challenge you as an artist. Nathuram Godse’s role was one such. I am not a votary of Gandhi’s assassination and never ever tried to glorify Nathuram Godse. As an artist, one must respect the freedom of expression and as a person, the freedom of thought! I hope that people look at this work with an open mind,” Kolhe posted on his Facebook account on Thursday.
He also told ABP Majha that in 2017, he was not active in politics.
However, Kolhe drew criticism from MVA allies as well. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said that there is an attempt going on to glorify Godse and Kolhe must remember that he is a public representative now.
“We won’t allow the movie to be released in Maharashtra,” he said on Friday.
Opposition leaders sought to know whether Kolhe and NCP accept Godse’s ideology or not. State BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said, “Amol Kolhe is a good actor and has the right to freedom of expression and play any character. The point here is whether he accepts the ideology of Godse because his party chief opposes Godse’s ideology. Even I don’t accept his (Godse’s) ideology.”
