Mumbai:
As theatre-owners in Mumbai faced huge pressure from the Shiv Sena to bring down posters of Shah Rukh Khan's film, Amitabh Bachchan blogged lavish praise for Bal Thackeray.
His wife, Jaya Bachchan, in an exclusive interview to NDTV, said Bollywood comes together for "national causes". She was replying to a question on why Bollywood and her own family has not supported Shah Rukh against the Sena. Shah Rukh's statement that Pakistani players should be a part of the Indian Premier League has angered the Shiv Sena.
"I had my battle. I fought it single-handedly with the support of my family," said Bachchan, referring to her own run-in with Raj Thackeray and his party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), in 2008. At a Bollywood event, Jaya Bachchan had said that because she is from Uttar Pradesh, she wanted to speak in Hindi.
MNS workers attacked a cinema where Amitabh Bachchan's film, The Last Lear, was meant to premiere. Amitabh Bachchan issued a formal apology after an explanation on his blog was rejected by Thackeray.
Even while accepting Bachchan's apology, an aggressive Thackeray said Jaya Bachchan should stick to delivering dialogue written for her, instead of extemporising.
The Maharashtra Chief Minister, Ashok Chavan, has said that "Strict action will be taken against anyone who tries to disrupt screening of Shah Rukh Khan's film 'My Name Is Khan'."
The Congress was also in power when Bachchan was threatened by the MNS. Pointing out that no such support was offered to her, Bachchan said, on the issue of North Indians being attacked in Mumbai, "It's very unfortunate that today the government is talking about it, they are posturing differently. When something starts, if you think it's wrong, it should be squashed then. But you did not make an effort, because at that time it did not suit you."