On NDTV's Agenda, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and actor Manoj Bajpyee spoke frankly on the cause that binds them
They both support gay rights and have demonstrated it recently in their diverse fields. Politician Shashi Tharoor tried to introduce a bill in the winter session of Parliament to end the ban on gay sex in India. Actor Manoj Bajpayee has enacted the role of a professor who was suspended by the Aligarh Muslim University after a TV channel broke into his home and filmed him with his partner.
On NDTV's Agenda, they both spoke frankly on the cause that binds them.
"The story is one of privacy, and not just about gay rights,'' said Manoj Bajpayee on his role in the new film "Aligarh".
"Just like Lata Mangeshkar lives with her music, this was an innocent man who wanted to live his life,'' said the actor, who has won critical acclaim with his gritty portrayals in films like Satya and Gangs of Wasseypur.
Prof Sreenivas Siras was found dead in April 2010, a few days before the university was forced to withdraw its decision to remove him. "I knew that it was such a responsibility for me to play him, it was the most difficult part for me,'' he said.
The subject became too controversial, admitted the actor, recalling how the crew couldn't even film in the largely conservative city of Aligarh.
"We are sending it to the central board of certification in January, and we can really expect a fight from them...It doesn't matter which government is in power, all of us artists are really soft targets," Mr Bajpayee commented.
Responding to that, Shashi Tharoor, a former union minister and Congress parliamentarian, said, "You can't compare a censor board which was headed by Sharmila Tagore to the one headed by Pehlaj Nihalani." Mr Nihalani, who was appointed censor board chief in January this year, has been criticized for some decisions like heavy cuts in the latest Bond film, Spectre.