Sunil Grover's Coffee With D released on Friday
New Delhi:
Actor Sunil Grover has explained why he has refused to promote his film Coffee With D, which opened today. Best-known for his comic appearances on Kapil Sharma's shows, the xx-year-old actor is the lead actor of Coffee With D, playing a news anchor who announces his intention of interviewing an underworld figure named 'D' - it's not hard to join the dots from here to real-life don Dawood Ibrahim. Sunil Grover told news agency IANS that he didn't write an open letter about Dawood Ibrahim to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that was circulated last month and bore his name. He also alleged that the makers of Coffee With D refused to show him the completed film.
IANS reports that the publicist for Coffee With D shared with them a letter addressed to PM Modi and allegedly written by Mr Grover. The contents of the letter urged PM Modi to fast track Dawood Ibrahim's trial in the 1993 Bombay Blasts case. "I never wrote that open letter to Modiji. Anyone who knows me would know that it isn't my language at all. The film's makers released that letter without my consent," Mr Grover told IANS.
"I haven't been shown the film. I don't know what the content is. I asked the producer-director Vishal Mishra repeatedly to be shown the film, and he kept saying I'll be shown the film. But eventually, he didn't show it to me. Aaj-kal-aaj-kal mein waqt nikal gaya (Time just went by). Now it's too late," Sunil Grover also told IANS.
"I don't know," Mr Grover said when asked why he wasn't shown the film. "Only they can answer that. But I ceased to promote the film when I realised they won't show it to me."
Yesterday, director Vishal Mishra released a statement criticizing his actor for refusing to promote Coffee With D: "Sunil and his performance is definitely one of the strongest driving forces in the film and it's really disheartening to see that he has turned down from speaking about it at all. We are encouraging the underworld to rule the film industry by being scared and let them curb our freedom of speech and expression."
Mr Mishra and producer Vinod Rahani have also claimed they received threatening calls demanding that any scenes unflattering to Dawood Ibrahim be changed, reports IANS. "The release date has been pushed already. The least one can expect is staying on their word in this situation, as we know we haven't portrayed anything that is ethically wrong," Mr Mishra said.
(With IANS inputs)
IANS reports that the publicist for Coffee With D shared with them a letter addressed to PM Modi and allegedly written by Mr Grover. The contents of the letter urged PM Modi to fast track Dawood Ibrahim's trial in the 1993 Bombay Blasts case. "I never wrote that open letter to Modiji. Anyone who knows me would know that it isn't my language at all. The film's makers released that letter without my consent," Mr Grover told IANS.
"I haven't been shown the film. I don't know what the content is. I asked the producer-director Vishal Mishra repeatedly to be shown the film, and he kept saying I'll be shown the film. But eventually, he didn't show it to me. Aaj-kal-aaj-kal mein waqt nikal gaya (Time just went by). Now it's too late," Sunil Grover also told IANS.
"I don't know," Mr Grover said when asked why he wasn't shown the film. "Only they can answer that. But I ceased to promote the film when I realised they won't show it to me."
Yesterday, director Vishal Mishra released a statement criticizing his actor for refusing to promote Coffee With D: "Sunil and his performance is definitely one of the strongest driving forces in the film and it's really disheartening to see that he has turned down from speaking about it at all. We are encouraging the underworld to rule the film industry by being scared and let them curb our freedom of speech and expression."
Mr Mishra and producer Vinod Rahani have also claimed they received threatening calls demanding that any scenes unflattering to Dawood Ibrahim be changed, reports IANS. "The release date has been pushed already. The least one can expect is staying on their word in this situation, as we know we haven't portrayed anything that is ethically wrong," Mr Mishra said.
(With IANS inputs)
