Mumbai, October 19 — Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit has condemned the attack on actor Tiger Shroff and expressed solidarity with his father, actor Jackie Shroff, and the entire family.
He added that they must be going through immense trauma following the incident.
In an exclusive conversation with IANS, Ashoke Pandit also urged the Maharashtra government and the Mumbai Police to take strict action against those responsible, stating that repeated attacks have created an atmosphere of insecurity within the film industry.
Condemning the incident, Ashoke Pandit said, “I, on behalf of Film, on behalf of the National Institute of Industry and Employees, on behalf of the Director's Association and in part the producers group, condemn this attack on one of the major celebrities of our industry, Tiger Shroff.”
He further said, “And I thank God that nothing fatal happened and he is safe. One really feels quite shocked and quite pained. And we all stand by Jackie Shroff and the entire family in this hour of crisis.”
Expressing concern over the emotional impact of the incident on the family, he added, “One can understand the trauma which Jackie and the entire family must be undergoing now. They must have never expected that this will happen to their son.”
He further expressed concern over the growing sense of insecurity within the film fraternity, pointing out that the attack on Tiger Shroff came after an earlier firing incident at filmmaker Rohit Shetty's residence.
“The entire atmosphere of insecurity, unsafe, has crept into the industry. It was the second attack on our industry in recent times, where earlier, a few months back, Rohit Shetty's house was under attack. Bullets were fired on his house also,” he said.
Pandit appealed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the state government's Department of Industry and the Mumbai Police to take the matter seriously and strengthen security measures.
“So, what I very strongly feel, and I appeal on behalf of the industry to our Honourable Chief Minister, the Department of Industry, the Mumbai Police, that something serious has to be done on this issue,” he said. “Because once fear encircles our industry, it will become very difficult for us to survive. In broad daylight, somebody comes with firearms and shoots somebody and runs away. And they are also just two minutes away from Juhu Police Station.”
Questioning how the perpetrators could carry out such an attack and flee, Ashoke Pandit said the incident raised serious concerns about the security arrangements in place.
“It raises a lot of alarm, raises a lot of questions. And the basic security agencies, the confidence with which they came and they shot and they went away. It's really scary, it's really an issue which has to be raised and thought over,” he said.
He further said, “I very strongly feel that somewhere there is a loophole, somewhere there is a system failure, somewhere it's a kind of lethargy, where vis-a-vis attacks on the industry is concerned. It's really very sad, it's really very demeaning.”
Speaking about the psychological impact of such incidents, Ashoke Pandit said the visuals of the attack could leave people feeling vulnerable and helpless.
“Your confidence shatters when you see such visuals on television screens and on mobiles. You are helpless. So, I don't want to feel helpless. I don't want the industry to feel helpless,” he said.
He added that the government must take stringent action against the perpetrators to prevent such incidents from recurring.
“I want the government to come heavy on all these people, all these criminals, to very openly accept that we have done this. And I'm sure the present government will take it seriously and solve this issue,” he said.
“I want the government to support the people of the industry as much as possible and give them protection so that such things don't happen again,” he said.
Referring to previous incidents of violence, including the murder of politician Baba Siddique and firing incidents reported at actor Salman Khan's residence and Rohit Shetty's home, Pandit expressed concern over the recurrence of such attacks.
“Because every time, we have seen four times, Baba Siddiqui was a politician, in the middle there was firing at Salman Khan's house, then firing at Rohit Shetty's house, now firing at Tiger Shroff's house. And there is only one name coming up, Lawrence Bishnoi,” he said.
When asked whether the authorities should take action against the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, Pandit said he did not wish to speculate about who was behind the incident, leaving that responsibility to the investigating agencies.
“See, I don't want to get into that area, who has done it. That's for the investigating agencies, that's for the police, that's for the government of Maharashtra to find out the real reason, who are the people involved in this. That's not my work and it's not my expertise either,” he said.
He reiterated that ensuring the safety of ordinary citizens was equally important, adding that everyone had the right to live without fear.
“But as you rightly said, I personally feel that not only people from this industry, every common man should be protected. Every common man has a right to live. Every common man has a right to be protected with true dignity,” he said.
“I feel very strongly that when incidents keep on happening like this and things will go out of your control, then it will be very difficult for the government and the security agencies, investigating agencies like police, to gain control again,” he said.
He added, “Because the entire psychology of fear has to be inculcated on all those people who are responsible for this. And not otherwise, not that we as common people should be fearful, it's those people, those criminals who should be fearful, who very openly come out and fire at innocent people like this,” he said.
When asked whether such incidents sent a wrong message about the government's ability to maintain law and order, Ashoke Pandit said the police needed to act firmly against the accused.
“If you allow these things to keep on happening, then the entire confidence of the industry will shatter. Not only our industry, even the common man, because firing on anybody from any industry creates a kind of a panic, creates a kind of fear that causes everybody, every common man,” he said.
“It's not that it's industry related, it's related to a very common man who is feeling insecure, because when he was shot, there were lots of common people around. They have seen, they were eyewitnesses when it happened in front of them. So, that entire image, that entire visual when it happens in front of you remains in your mind for a lot of time,” he said.
Ashoke Pandit added that witnessing such visuals could leave citizens questioning their own safety.
“So, when we saw this also as citizens, when we saw this on screen, it creates a fear of psychosis, it creates fear that we are safe? Tomorrow, today's happened to him, tomorrow it can happen to us, it can happen to anyone for that matter,” he said.
“So, it's very important for the government of Maharashtra to come very heavy and our Honourable CM, Padma Viji has given a statement, he has instructed the police to go heavy on it and I'm sure with the power the government has, the system has, the police has, they will nab the culprits and will not, we'll see to it that they will not allow these things to continue,” Pandit said.
Concluding his remarks, Ashoke Pandit said the film industry had conveyed its concerns through the media and hoped that the authorities would take the repeated incidents seriously.
“It's through the media, we have communicated to the government of Maharashtra, we have communicated to the Chief Minister that we are really concerned and we are really perplexed, we are really shocked with this kind of an incident happening again and again,” he said.
For the uninitiated, Tiger Shroff was attacked on Sunday evening when three motorcycle-borne men allegedly opened fire at Tiger’s car in Juhu.