Last night, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with members of the film industry in the Capital. The star-studded event saw the presence of Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Kangana Ranaut, Sonam Kapoor, Imtiaz Ali, Rakul Preet Singh, Jackie Shroff, Varun Sharma and Kapil Sharma among others.
The focus of the meeting was to encourage filmmakers to create films and television shows that popularise Mahatma Gandhi and Gandhism, to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation.
"Gandhi is synonymous with simplicity. His thoughts reverberate far and wide. The power of creativity is immense, and it is essential to harness this spirit of creativity for our nation. Several people from the world of films and television have been doing great work when it comes to popularising the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi," noted Prime Minister Modi.
"Thank you PM Narendra Modi for hosting us and having such an open discussion on #ChangeWithin and the role artistes can play in spreading awareness of the messages of The Mahatma. Also, the idea of a University of Cinema is extremely opportune!," tweeted Shah Rukh Khan.
About the interaction session with the Prime Minister, Amir Khan said, "It was a wonderful interaction we had with the Prime Minister today. He was very inspiring, very warm and very deep in what he had to say. I want to appreciate the PM for thinking about this effort. As creative people, there is much we can do, and I assure the PM that we will do even more."
For Kangana, the effort underlines the fact that Prime Minister Modi has recognised the power of the film industry. "Modiji is the first Prime Minister who is so inclusive of art and artistes and the film industry. Nobody has recognised the soft power of art and artistes in the country before. From the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the film industry, I thank the Prime Minister," said Kangana.
After the session with the PM, producer Ekta Kapoor said she felt that "for the first time it seemed like there is someone who knows our industry better than us".
Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali noted the tone of informality about the session helped. "The best thing about the session was that it was very informal. The film industry understands the informal language the best. The idea to make films on Gandhiji will help reintroduce ourselves to Gandhiji's philosophy," he noted.
With inputs from IANS