R Madhavan’s directorial debut, Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, has won the ‘Best Feature Film’ at the 69th National Film Awards. (Image: )
Actor-director R Madhavan said he respected the post and was not politically aligned, in response to being called out for lauding PM Narendra Modi for the success of Chandrayaan-3 as many said he should have congratulated only ISRO
Fresh from his win at the 69th National Film Awards, where he clinched the ‘Best Feature Film’ for his directorial debut Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, R Madhavan said he has the “deepest respect” for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he was applauding the post rather than being politically aligned.
In an interview to CNN-, Madhavan responded to those calling him out for congratulating the prime minister on the success of Chandrayaan-3. Many criticised him and said he should have given credit only to ISRO and not to Modi.
“I’m in love with India, in love with fact that India’s doing great right now. And I have the deepest, utmost respect for my prime minister. And I can tell you this that the PM of India today will, with me, clap for the next PM, whoever is doing good for India. It’s the post and position that we’re applauding and it’s not politically aligned. It’s a big crime not to acknowledge good work or the progress the country is making because that’s being unfair with the country,” Madhavan said.
“For some misguided people, you can’t do anything right. If a small child smiles, they’ll find a reason why the child should not smile. We have to make allowances for these poor souls, but that does not mean we shouldn’t give credit where it’s due. And for goodness’ sake, you have to give credit. What are you going to do about it if it has happened during this government’s time?” he asked.
Madhavan said India is making progress but there are many “external elements” that are not happy with the progress of the country. “The best way to break a country is to give the younger generation fast food and we’ve seen that in the west, the same is with feeding the seed of dissent for everything possible. The country is being applauded by the entire world. Everybody is saying ‘Great job’ to us for Chandrayaan-3. So, why not acknowledge that? I am not going to be dissuaded by people in projecting the right being done by my country. They can paint me however they want,” he added.
The actor won the National Award for his biographical drama on the life of former ISRO scientist S Nambi Narayanan, a day after the India became the first country to land on the lunar south pole. The film, which also stars Madhavan in the lead role, had earlier received a 10-minute standing ovation at the 75th Cannes Film Festival where it was premiered for a select audience.
