Bollywood delegation’s fruitful meeting with PM Modi

On Thursday morning a slew of topnotch actors, producers and directors flew to Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Actors Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Siddharth Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar and Rajkummar Rao, Producers Ekta Kapoor, Karan Johar and Mahaveer Jain and directors Ashwini Iyer Tiwari and Rohit Shetty were all part of the delegation.

The delegates, who can’t seem to stop singing the PM’s praises, say that nothing specific was discussed.

Mahaveer Jain who initiated the move to meet the PM says, “Getting the new breed of prominent actors and filmmakers to meet PM Modi Saab was an idea initiated by Karan Johar and me.  It took me no time to convince the delegation to pay this flying-visit to Delhi. It took 20 days to get an appointment with the PM for this historic meeting.”

According to him, the effort was worth it.  “This meeting is just the beginning for our film industry to get more proactive in the process of nation-building. The PM graciously told the delegation how much of a change and progress they could bring to the nation. The Prime Minister made us feel most comfortable and welcome and told us that he wanted the entertainment industry to feel a part of the process of the nation’s growth and development,” he says.

Did he feel that the meeting was fulfilling? “Very, very fulfilling,” Jain gushes and adds, “All the actors felt very comfortable in Modi saab’s company. Our entertainment industry has a tremendous amount to give to the nation.  As the PM pointed out to them, these stars are role models. They have the power to influence the youth. I am surprised that this meeting didn’t happen earlier. But now the process has started. We will be interacting extensively with the Government. And there is no stopping us. We (the film industry) are going to be taken seriously by the Government.”