Winds of change in Bollywood: After Javed Akhtar, Ranbir snubs Pak, surprises with pro-India stand

Bollywood is finally realising the importance of respecting the sentiments of its core audience.

Winds of change finally seem to be here in Bollywood as India's leading film industry is finally overcoming its love for Pakistan.

Days ago, lyricist Javed Akhtar stunned India by criticising Pakistan in Pakistan. Now, Ranbir Kapoor's turn to put country before art.

Yes, you heard it right. Ranbir Kapoor has said that art is no bigger than "your country". Recently, Ranbir was in Chandigarh to promote his upcoming film 'Jhoothi Main Makkaar' where he was asked about his earlier statement on his willingness to work in Pakistani movies.

Responding to this question, Kapoor said, "I think yeh thoda mera statement misconstrue ho gaya tha. I had gone for a film festival & there were a lot of Pakistani filmmakers asking me this question, you know, 'If you've got a good subject would you do it?' So, I didn't want it to be controversial in any way."

Ranbir Kapoor said, "I don't think itni bhi badi controversy hui. But, for me, films are films, art is art. I have worked with Fawad (Khan) in 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil'. I have known a lot of artists from Pakistan. Rahat (Fateh Ali Khan) & Atif Aslam are such great singers who used to contribute to Hindi cinema. So, cinema is cinema. I don't think cinema sees boundaries."

He ended on the note by saying, "But, of course, you have to respect art but at the same time art is not bigger than your country. So, anybody who is not on good terms with your country your first priority will always be your country."

What Javed Akhtar Said?
The perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks did not come from Norway or Egypt but are still roaming freely in Pakistan and Pakistanis should not feel offended when India talks about the 2008 carnage, Javed Akhtar said on Sunday while attending the seventh Faiz Festival organised in memory of Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, according to a PTI report.

Responding to a member in the audience who told Akhtar to take with him a message of peace and tell Indians that Pakistan is "a positive, friendly and loving country", the 78-year-old writer said: "We should not blame each other. It will solve nothing. The atmosphere is tense, that should be doused." "We are people from Mumbai, we have seen the attack on our city. They (attackers) did not come from Norway or Egypt. They are still roaming freely in your country. So if there is a grievance in the heart of a Hindustani, you should not feel offended," Akhtar said at the festival which concluded on Sunday.

Akhtar also told the gathering that even though Pakistani artists like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Mehdi Hasan have been warmly welcomed in India, Pakistan has never held a single show of Lata Mangeshkar. "We hosted big functions of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Mehdi Hasan. You (Pakistan) never organised a function for Lata Mangeshkar," the poet can be heard in a video of the event, drawing loud cheers and applause from the audience.

Back in India, people hailed his comments. Even Akhtar's critics like Kangana Ranaut praised him.

What The Two Incidents Tells Us
The two developments indicate major change in the mentality of Bollywood. For long, the film industry has taken the sentiments of Indian majority for granted.

It is a big realisation for Bollywood stars, who had been following the narrative set by leftists and liberals that art is bigger than country. As people started calling out the Hindi film industry for its anti-India and anti-Hindu stands, the industry is finally understanding the importance of respecting its core audience's sentiments.