Veteran poet, lyricist, and screenwriter Javed Akhtar has now responded to singer Lucky Ali’s remarks on him. The latter referred to the former as “never original,” “ugly,” and a “monster” over a year-old video in which Akhtar was seen comparing Hindus to Muslims. Ali, a devout Muslim, took offence to the viral clip doing the rounds on social media, by Akhtar, an atheist. Akhtar’s comments came shortly after Lucky tendered a quasi apology where he said he will apologise if the senior lyricist-writer felt offended.
“I must take Lucky Ali’s opinion with a pinch of salt. I should accept it. Although I don’t agree with it. But anyway, I’m happy to know that he has opinions. That’s wonderful,” said Akhtar. With respect to Ali’s sarcastic apology that “monsters also have feelings,” Akhtar responded to India Today, “Let him decide what he meant and wants.”
Last month, the Sholay sequence showing Dharmendra hiding behind a Lord Shiva statue put Javed Akhtar bang in the centre of an escalating social media debate after his comment that he will never be able to write it today. The video from the India Film Project last year, in which the lyricist-writer is discussing freedom of speech and democracy, got back in circulation, prompting singer Lucky Ali among others to take him on for his views on Muslims — and Hindus.
Lucky wrote on X in response to a post on Akhtar’s video, “Don’t become like Javed Akhtar, never original and ugly as f***… (sic).”
As the comments gained traction, he put out another strongly worded post later. “What I meant was that arrogance is ugly… It was a mistaken communique’ on my part… monsters may have feelings too and I apologise if I hurt anyones monstrosity (sic),” he said.
“If you are tolerant, it’s good. If you are intolerant in certain matters, particularly which are sensitive, like religious matters, then it’s not good. You have to be a tolerant person. You should… I mean, if you want to have one opinion, and you want to hear your opinion, then you should be able to take other people’s opinion you may not agree with,” Akhtar has now said.“But will you listen to only those opinions that are conducive, that are agreeable for you? You don’t want any opposition? That’s not fair. Whoever is doing it,” he added.
Now that the dust is beginning to settle, Lucky Ali has also showed some remorse. “No human is perfect. I’ve also made mistakes. I also regret my misbehaviour towards an elderly person. If I get the chance, I’ll surely apologize. It feels bad when someone remarks on your community time and again, particularly when he’s such a big and responsible figure. I made a mistake in my reaction. I didn’t abuse him, but my remark got blown out of proportion. I apologize if someone has gotten offended, but the responsibility is all of ours,” Ali told Navbharat Times.
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In the now famous video, Akhtar references theSholay scene where Dharmendra hides behind the Shiva statue and Hema Malini’s Basanti believes she’s hearing the deity speak. “Is it possible to have a scene like that today? No, I will not write a scene (like this today). Were there no Hindus in 1975? Were there no dharmic people? There were. As a matter of fact, I’m on record, I’m not saying it right here. Raju Hirani and I were in Pune in front of a big audience and I said, ‘Don’t become like Muslims. Make them like yourself. You are becoming like Muslims.’ It’s a tragedy,” Akhtar says.
