06 January,2020 07:17 AM IST | Mumbai | Mohar Basu
Kangana Ranaut, Farhan Akhtar and Dia Mirza
Exactly a year after Bollywood's A-listers huddled around PM Narendra Modi for a selfie - that became the symbol of the industry's eagerness to kowtow to the Centre - they were called upon again for a pro-Citizenship (Amendment) Act discussion in Mumbai.
The meeting was called by Piyush Goyal, the Minister of Railways and Commerce, and Baijayant Panda, who wanted "to discuss the myths and realities of the Citizenship Amendment Act". The response from the industry was, at best, tepid. One can only guess if the events that transpired in the interim may have something to do with the industry's biggies staying away from the do that was held at the Grand Hyatt in Kalina.
A source told mid-day that the list of invitees included Farhan and Javed Akhtar, Kangana Ranaut, Ashwini Iyer Tiwary, Dia Mirza, Kabir Khan and Ritesh Sidhwani, among others.
When mid-day reached out to Mirza last evening, the actor asserted, "I am in Hyderabad for an event, and will not be attending the meeting."
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Interestingly, one of Modi's biggest cheerleaders, Ranaut, too was not Kalina-bound last night. A source close to the actor said, "She has a busy schedule." Unsurprisingly, she was spotted outside a dance class in Bandra in the evening. Farhan, who was a no-show at the meeting, did not respond to our repeated calls and texts. Kabir Khan could also not make it to the meeting.
While the agenda of the meeting was to have a "discussion around all the possible dimensions of the issue", the invitees' list unsurprisingly left out several film personalities who have critiqued the CAA, including Anurag Kashyap, Swara Bhasker and Richa Chadha. Among those from the industry who kept their date at eight included T-Series head honcho Bhushan Kumar, Kunal Kohli, #MeToo accused Anu Malik and Kailash Kher, and Urvashi Rautela, among others. Hitesh Jain, Vice President of BJP Mumbai, described the meeting as an "outreach programme where we are reaching out to all segments of society to explain the rationale of CAA."
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