Javed Akhtar slams 'Boycott Bollywood' trend, urges all to 'respect Indian films'

Jaipur: Veteran lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar on Friday, during a media interaction at a literature festival in Jaipur, raised the viral social media trend of 'Boycott Bollywood' and appealed to people to respect Indian films. "We love movies, whether it is from North, South, East or West. Stories are in our DNA. It's in our DNA to listen and to tell stories. So we should respect Indian films," Javed Akhtar said while backing Bollywood amid boycott trend. 

Akhtar also termed Indian cinema "One of the strongest goodwill ambassadors in the world," and said that people should respect Indian films. "We should respect Indian films. An average Indian film is released across more than 136 nations. Indian cinema is one of the strongest goodwill ambassadors in the world. If people headcount the stars, then our stars will get more recognition in the world than Hollywood," Akhtar told the reporters. The 78-year-old lyricist also acknowledged the stardom of actor Shah Rukh Khan and mentioned how his popularity has been beneficial for the country's goodwill abroad. 

"Not only in Asia, if you go to Germany and tell someone that you are an Indian, their first question would be, do you know Shah Rukh? Our people and our films are spreading so much goodwill for India in the world. So we are a major soft power of India and it should be protected," Akhtar said. 

Javed Akhtar is a renowned Indian lyricist and is known for his blockbuster hit films like `Don`, `Sholay`, `Deewar`, `Mr India`, `Zanjeer`, `Dostana`, `Seeta aur Geeta` and many more.