Growing Intolerance: Shah Rukh Khan has courage to face flaks, says Dibakar Banerjee

Lauding Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan for raising his voice against the growing intolerance, noted filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee on Friday said that the actor has the courage to face flaks that he has drawn for voicing his opinion.

"In a democratic society, when we speak out, we speak out with responsibility and courage. And to some you always face flaks for that. The courage which is there when you spoke out has to match the courage after you spoke out. And Shah Rukh Khan has a lot of that," Banerjee told ANI.

Khan had joined the debate swirling around 'intolerance' on his 50th birthday, when he told a leading news channel that there was 'nothing worse than religious intolerance and that it would take India to the Dark Ages' Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kailash Vijayvargiya had slammed the actor saying he 'lives in India but his soul is in Pakistan'.

However, after facing national flak for his controversial statement, Vijayvargiya retracted his statement saying he had been misquoted and that he had not intended to 'hurt any sentiments' with his remark. BJP MP Yogi Adityanath also raised a furore after comparing Khan to 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, and said he is 'welcome' to go to Pakistan.