Sharjah: On a visit to Sharjah, Indian actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha on Wednesday backed the Indian prime minister’s “daring” anti-corruption move to overnight ban existing Indian currency notes of 500 and 1,000 denominations, which took the country by shock on Tuesday night.
‘Shotgun’ Sinha, 70, was answering a young boy’s question after a talk on his biographical book (Anything but Khamosh) on the sidelines of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) at Expo Centre Sharjah.
Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi, who is from India’s ruling political party the BJP, to which Sinha also belongs, had in a surprise diktat abruptly retired the banknotes in an unprecedented crackdown on black money.
“Mere pas to koi note hi nahi hai [I don’t have any note at all],” Sinha replied jokingly in Hindi when prompted by the young boy on his take on the issue.
“We have to wait and watch. It has been done with very good intentions, jokes apart. Now let us see, let us wait and watch a little, what will come out of it. But this much I must tell you, he’s a dashing, dynamic, action-hero prime minister — Narendra Modi. He has done it because he has always been talking about it, practising and preaching, against corruption. We definitely congratulate him and salute him for taking such a daring, bold and timely action.”
Sinha, a living legend of Bollywood, took a volley of questions from ardent fans during the talk, including one about the prospect of sharing the screen again with megastar Amitabh Bachchan, his long-time friend. The two were famously seen together on the big screen in the 1980 hit film Dostana (Friendship) but had gone through a spell of estrangement.
“I think you will hear the good news soon,” Sinha said about working with Bachchan again.
Sinha also confirmed that he would as a guest go on the super-hit Indian celebrity talk show Comedy Nights with Kapil, hosted by TV star Kapil Sharma, who nowadays has a segment on the show where he imitates Sinha.
“To encourage Kapil and to learn something from Kapil’s show, I will definitely go [on Comedy Nights].”
Sinha shared Wednesday night’s SIBF stage with Bharathi S. Pradhan, author of Sinha’s biography, Anything but Khamosh (Khamosh meaning silent), which was almost seven years in the making, incorporating some 200 taped conversations.
“Khamosh!” is Sinha’s best-known punchline, delivered in his signature thundering voice and style. He also peppered Wednesday’s talk with a few Khamoshes to the delight of fans.
Also speaking during the discussion was Ajay Mago, publisher of Om Books International, which has published Sinha’s biography. Mago said that owing to the book’s success, the biography will be translated first in Hindi and then in other regional languages in India. There is even a plan to release a Turkish version in 2017, he added.
Sinha signed copies of the book for jostling fans following the talk.
The 11-day SIBF ends on Saturday. It features 1.5 million books from 1,680 publishers from 60 countries, including 88,000 new titles. There are also hundreds of cultural activities, cookery programmes and children’s events. Also participating are world-renowned authors, celebrities and intellectuals from the Arab world, Western countries and the Indian continent, among other places.
For more information, visit the SIBF website, www.sibf.com.
