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Bollywood slams politics over `Aarakshan`

The film industry has come out in support of Amitabh Bachchan and Prakash Jha, venting their ire over the ban on `Aarakshan` in three states.

New Delhi: The film industry has come out in support of Amitabh Bachchan and Prakash Jha, venting their ire over the ban on `Aarakshan` in three states.
The movie has been banned in UP, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh and met with protests in other states like Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. "It is really sad that states are banning AARAKSHAN. Should we filmmakers from now on start making Cartoon films?," tweeted filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar. Joining Bhandarkar was veteran actor Anupam Kher who posted, "Aarakshan is a victim of today`s dirty Politics. Movies don`t have agendas, politicians do." Filmmaker Karan Johar, who had faced a similar brunt for his film `My Name Is Khan` earlier, added, "Cinema is a medium of expression... democracy allows the freedom of expression...is this only in theory??? And who stands accountable?? SAD." Actor-director Farhan Akhtar wrote, "For the record. I am against the ban on Aarakshan. I hope better sense will prevail and that it will release in all states asap (sic)." Actor Nikhil Dwivedi tweeted, "Are we the film `fraternity` actually going to be so passive and just watch helplessly as 3 states just ban a film." "Isn`t censor board a Central Govt Body with reps from all walks of life? Then why doesn`t the Central Govt intervene and uphold the Board`s Certificate in ALL STATES of the country? Power to `Aarakshan` the film," wrote director Anubhav Sinha. Bachchan, who had initially been cautious about his views, has strongly voiced his disappointment in his blogs and tweets. "Back from aarakshan... have cried at our helplessness in not making people understand that this art needs to be seen not banned!!" PTI