Piyush Mishra: Kiku's arrest murder of freedom of expression

Piyush Mishra

Lyricist-actor Piyush Mishra today said the arrest of TV comedian Kiku Sharda was a murder of freedom of expression.

Piyush Mishra

Actor Sikander Kher too voiced the same sentiment.

Sharda was recently arrested for mimicking the Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and subsequently released.

"It is anarchism, stupidity and insulting... It is like killing the freedom of expression," Mishra told reporters at the trailer launch of "Tere Bin Laden- Dead or Alive" here.

Mishra's co-star in the film, actor Manish Paul, said if a person is imitating someone, it means he is doing it out of respect.

"Everyone has their own comedy.... Our motive is to bring a smile to people's faces but if they have a problem with that then we cannot do anything about that," he said.

Sikander, who also stars in the film, said people cannot be arrested for their comedy. "It's absolutely preposterous.

It's killing of freedom of expression. Comedy is comedy world over. People should laugh, you can't arrest somebody," he said.

To which Mishra added, "Deepak Dobriyal had said on a news channel that he (Ram Rahim Singh) came and made a joke of the film industry by making MSG (his film, 'Messenger of God'), so why can't we make fun of him?"

As ed about the growing number of adult comedies in Bollywood, Paul said these films have an audience too. "If you don't like it then don't watch it," he said. Mishra, who has starred in the bold comedy "The Shaukeens", however, said there should be "some limit". "I disagree. There should be some limit... You can't show anything. My sister and mother are sitting beside me and you cannot show anything."

To which Paul said, "Sir films like these are not to be watched with sisters..." Directed by Abhishek Sharma, "Tere Bin Laden- Dead or Alive" is a sequel to the 2010 "Tere Bin Laden". The film is scheduled to release on February 19.