Democracy And Freedom Of Expression Are 'Jokes': Director Karan Johar

Mumbai: Freedom of expression is "the biggest joke", said Karan Johar, one of Bollywood's most successful film directors, at the Jaipur Literature Festival.  

"How are we democratic?  How is there freedom of expression?" he asked, stating "Everywhere I go, I am scared, I am scared I am saying something in Jaipur, and God knows who'll file a case when I reach home. So I have become some kind of an FIR king now."

He also referred to the country's archaic laws which criminialize homosexuality.  Reminding his audience that he has never openly said he is gay - "I have not yet revealed (that)," he said in Jaipur  -  he stated,   "Revealing in today's time will land you in jail...we're in a tough country to speak about your personal life."

With his comments, Mr Johar, 43, will be seen as having joined a small group of Bollywood heavyweights who have expressed their concern about moral policing and an atmosphere of increasing intolerance in India. The government has rejected those charges made by some intellectuals, writers and artists.

Late last year, top actors Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan faced a furious online backlash after they said that they are concerned about a growing "cultural and religious intolerance".  A barrage of invective on Twitter summarized them as anti-nationalist.

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Aamir Khan, 50, spoke in November about a sense of "insecurity" and "fear" spreading in the country and revealed that his wife had questioned whether the couple should leave the country with their young son.  

A few week before that,  Shah Rukh Khan referred to "extreme intolerance in India" after the lynching of a Muslim man in  Dadri in Haryana over incorrect reports that he had beef in his home.

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