Demand for boycott of Pak artists in India post Uri incident childish: Om Puri

Lucknow: Bollywood actor Om Puri said has sending Pakistani film artists back to their country was not the 'right way' to respond to the Uri incident. He said this would serve no purpose and the demand was just a 'childish act'. The actor, who is in the city for the past one week to shoot for his upcoming film ' Kabari' yesterday went to a private university to promote his movie, ‘Gandhigiri.’ Om Puri said actors should not be dragged in politics though condemned the Uri incident saying it should be deplored and Pakistan should be taught a lesson for harbouring terrorists.

Meanwhile,stressing the relevance of Mahatma Gandhi in today’s world, Om Puri said he strongly believes in the principles of Mahatma Gandhi. In the movie, the actor plays an NRI-returned Rai Saheb, who strongly believes in the principles of Gandhi. “My character is of a Non-Resident Indian whose father had played an active role in the freedom struggle and was closely associated with it. After returning to India, Rai Saheb comes across four different people who’ve walked on the wrong paths and made wrong choices due to various circumstances.

The movie beautifully captures the efforts made by Rai Saheb to make them realise the importance of Gandhiji’s values in today’s age and time,” On Puri said. Asked to comment on the importance of Gandhi’s values today, he said nobody could deny that Gandhi’s philosophy played a very important role during the country’s struggle for freedom. “There is a whole list of thinkers and intellectuals in the country who have enriched the nation with their philosophies, be it Swami Vivekananda, Ramkrishna Paramhans and so on. Gandhi’s philosophy played an important role in the freedom struggle with huge crowds standing in front of the police braving their assaults with non-violence. This philosophy of fighting violence with non-violence was later followed by a great leader like Nelson Mandela,” he said. (UNI)