If there’s one person in Indian film fraternity who knows how to always stay in the spotlight, it is producer, director, actor and host Karan Johar.
This time Mr Johar made headlines for leading a 14-member Bollywood delegation comprising filmmakers and young actors to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
Ranveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Sidharth Malhotra, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao, Vicky Kaushal, Bhumi Pednekar were among the actors who met with the Prime Minister.
Along with Mr Johar, the delegation also included other established filmmakers and producers like Rohit Shetty, Ekta Kapoor, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and Mahaveer Jain.
After the meeting, the filmmaker uploaded a selfie to Instagram showing Prime Minister posing in the centre of the group.
Describing the meeting as “an incredible opportunity”, Mr Johar said the dialogue was about the ways in which the film industry can contribute to nation building and make India a better society through entertainment.
“When the youngest country (in demography) joins hands with the largest movie industry in the world, we hope to be a force to reckon with,” he wrote.
“Together we would love to inspire and ignite positive changes to a transformative India.”
Mr Johar also thanked the Prime Minister for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) reduction on movie tickets.
The meeting comes just days after the Prime Minister had met another Bollywood delegation on December 19. Pictures of that meeting triggered a debate on social media with netizens calling out Mr Modi and the film fraternity for not having any woman representation in the panel.
This time around, the inclusion of actors Alia Bhatt, Bhumi Pednekar and filmmakers Ekta Kapoor and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari is being viewed more favourably.
