The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to be rubbing the Indian film industry the wrong way. After their recent controversy down south with the film, Mersal, they seem to be running into more trouble. Actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar took on the party's spokesperson, GVL Narasimha Rao after Rao went on a news channel to say 'all actors have low IQs'.
Rao was invited on the channel to speak for the party in relation to the entire Mersal controversy. During one segment of the debate, Rao went on to say 'in any case, most of our film stars have a very low IQ, very low general knowledge.'
This has certainly not gone down well with Akhtar, who took to Twitter to call out the spokesperson. Writing on the social media, Akhtar said, "How dare you, sir?? @GVLNRAO...And to all film people in his ranks.. here’s what he thinks of you. #shame"
The statement for Rao is a prickly moment for the party that is facing severe uproar in Tamil Nadu. After the Tamil Nadu party chief, T Sounderrajan pulled up the Mersal makers by saying, "Incorrect references have been made in Mersal about GST ... celebrities should desist from registering wrong information among people." The comment earned quite the reaction from actors Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth to Congress party vice-president Rahul Gandhi and former Union minister P Chidambaram siding with the filmmakers.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also has several former actors like Smriti Irani, Shatrughan Sinha, and Kirron Kher on their roster.