Mahesh Bhatt slams destruction of Vidyasagar's statue

Mahesh Bhatt

Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt on Wednesday condemned the destruction of Bengali polymath Vidyasagar's bust during BJP President Amit Shah's roadshow in Kolkata.

Bhatt tweeted: "To attack Pandit Vidyasagar is to attack Bangla language. To begin with, he simplified Bangla for studying through Borno Porichoy."

Clashes broke out between members of the Trinamool Congress students' union and BJP supporters who participated in Shah's massive roadshow in north Kolkata on Tuesday evening, following which a group of saffron party activists allegedly resorted to vandalism inside the Vidyasagar College campus and destroyed a bust of Vidyasagar.

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a key figure of the Bengal Renaissance. He was a philosopher, academic educator, writer, translator, printer, publisher, entrepreneur, reformer and philanthropist.

On the work front, the last time he wore the hat of a film director was in 1999, with the film Kartoos. Since then, Mahesh Bhatt has nurtured many new talents in Bollywood. As the veteran gears up for his new directorial venture Sadak 2, he says that the movie is not his 'comeback' film as director.

Sadak 2 is the sequel to the 1991 film Sadak.

"I have never thought that I will come and direct a film like Sadak 2 after 20 years, but you know, I am not intending to call it my second innings or a new beginning as a filmmaker. It just happened... I do not know what tomorrow brings but I am certainly not getting into that phase with lots of scripts where I will keep on directing films," Mahesh Bhatt said in a media interview.

He has made his acting debut this year with the film Yours Truly, directed by Sanjay Nag. It also features his actress wife Soni Razdan.

Talking about his acting debut, the "Arth" maker said: "I was surprised myself when Sanjay called me and very sincerely urged me to play a part in ‘Yours Truly'. It is a special appearance. I told him, 'Look, I am not an actor. I have always been behind the camera, but if you think that I fit the part, I will do it for you'."

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Edited by mid-day online desk with inputs from IANS