A recent tweet from noted filmmaker Shekhar Kapur got him engaged in a war of words with renowned lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar.
A recent tweet from noted filmmaker Shekhar Kapur got him engaged in a war of words with renowned lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar.
This led to a sharp rebuttal from Kapur’s ex-wife Suchitra Krisnamoorthi who wrote: “Totally shocked by @Javedakhtarjadu’s very personal attack on @shekharkapur’s tweet. Intellectualism is indeed a malaise.”
Shekhar's tweet on Saturday stated that he still feels like a "refugee" and how some "intellectuals" made him feel "insignificant and small".
"Started life as refugee of Partition. Parents gave everything to make a life for kids. Was always in fear of 'intellectuals'. They made me feel insignicant. Small," read the tweet.
Totally shocked by @Javedakhtarjadu s very personal attack on @shekharkapur s tweet. Intellectualism is indeed a malaise
— Suchitra Krishnamoorthi (@suchitrak) July 29, 2019
— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) July 29, 2019
1. Shekhar Kapur fears intellectuals
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However, he added that he was suddenly "embraced" but still fears those "intellectuals".
"Then suddenly embraced me after my films. I still fear them. Their embrace is like a bite of snake. Still a refugee," the tweet ended.
And it didn't take long for the tweet to be noticed by Javed who lashed out at the filmmaker advicing him to see "a good psychiatrist."
"Who are these intellectuals who embraced you and you found that embrace like a snake's bite ? Shyam Benegal , Adoor Gopal Krishna , Ram chandra Guha ? Really ?. Shekhar saheb you are not well . You need help . Come on , there is no shame in meeting a good psychiatrist," read the reply from Javed.
2. Akhtar bashes Kapur
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Continuing the bashing, the lyricist in another tweet added, "What do you mean by still a refugee Does it mean that you feel like an outsider n not an Indian n you don't feel that this is your motherland."
Javed asked Shekhar if he would not feel a refugee in Pakistan? Further calling him "poor rich but lonely guy", the 74 year old wrote, "If in India you are still a refugee where will you not feel like a refugee, In Pakistan? Cut this melodrama you poor rich but lonely guy."
Shekhar Kapur, whose Twitter bio goes as "neither prejudiced by the past nor in near future", fell prey to Javed's jibe.
"You introduce yourself as neither prejudiced by the past nor afraid of the future living in this moment and in the same breath you say you are a refugee of partition and still a refugee. One doesn't need a magnifying glass to see the contradiction," he tweeted.
Not elevating the spat, Shekar replied to Javed's remark in a single tweet clarifying his stand on the meaning of "refugee", "No. It means once you are a refugee, you feel a gypsy."
Shekhar Kapur is a noted filmmaker known for films like 'Bandit Queen', and 'Masum'.
3. Letter Wars
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Three days after a group of eminent citizens wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the lynching of minorities and hate crimes, 61 high profile personalities from various fields on Friday responded with a counter statement against "selective outrage and false narratives".
The July 23 letter by 49 "self-styled guardians and conscience keepers" expressed selective concerns and demonstrated a "clear political bias and motive", said the statement signed by actor Kangana Ranaut, lyricist Prasoon Joshi, dancer Sonal Mansingh and filmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar and Vivek Agnihotri and others.
"It (the July 23 letter) is aimed at tarnishing India's international standing and to negatively portray the prime minister's untiring efforts to effectuate governance on the foundations of positive nationalism and humanism which is the core of Indianess," the statement read.
The document of selective outrage, it said, comes across as an "attempt to foist a false narrative with the intention of denigrating the democratic ethos and norms of our collective functioning as a nation and people".
