Kamal Haasan not to return awards

Hyderabad: Against the backdrop of 12 filmmakers, including two students, returning their awards expressing anger over ‘intolernace’, actor Kamal Haasan has firmly said he won’t return his awards. He has won several national awards, besides Padma Bhushan.

“People who gave back their awards must also return the money too,” he suggested while speaking to this correspondent here on Tuesday. The actor was in the city to promote his upcoming film ‘Cheekati Rajyam’.

“I don’t have any issues if people (who returned their awards) voice their concerns but I believe the award is a token of appreciation of their work. Just because of a decision taken by the incumbent, you cannot insult the people who conferred the award in the first place. I will not return any of my awards,” said Haasan. Citing an example, he said, “Suppose if I’m angry with my fraternity, will I return the money that I earned from films? I won’t.”

With eminent faces like N R Narayana Murthy, Raghuram Rajan, and Shah Rukh Khan joining the chorus against growing intolerance in the country, Haasan said, “We’ve always been intolerant. When did the controversy surrounding ‘Vishwaroopam' erupt? Or for that matter, who stopped ‘Hey Ram’?

It was the Congress people who said ‘Hey Ram’ was an anti-American film. Every government is intolerant. Why single out BJP? Congress is as intolerant as BJP, RSS, and Muslim League. And they expect me to be tolerant and cut my film,” he stated. Haasan said that he had been “fighting religious intolerance for long. I’m a Godless man in a country full of Gods. I love people. I love Muslims, Jains, Christians and Hindus. Not because they are from a particular community but because they are my friends and I know them.”

By:Nagaraj Goud