Portraying Nathuram Godse lands NCP MP in trouble

Amol Kolhe. File Pic

Portraying the role of Nathuram Godse in a film has landed a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Member of Parliament in trouble, almost five years after it went on the floors. It is about to be released on January 30, the day Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated.

Amol Kolhe, who was associated with the Shiv Sena before signing the film, ‘Why I Killed Gandhi,' and joined the NCP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, has been slammed by his party colleagues and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well.

NCP minister Jitendra Awhad said after seeing the movie trailer that performing the character amounted to endorsing Godse and his ideology. "One cannot endorse Gandhi's murder in the garb of an actor," Awhad tweeted on Thursday evening, adding that since progressive people in Maharashtra had strongly opposed the duo - director Vinay Apte and actor Sharad Ponkshe (who were responsible for the play 'Mee Nathuram Godse boltoy,' on Gandhi-Godse that was initially banned in Maharashtra, but resumed shows later), he will also oppose the anti-Gandhi movie. Congress leader and ex-MP Hussain Dalwai said Kolhe could have avoided the role. "He may be an actor but he's the MP of a party with a certain ideology," he said.

Opposition leader in the legislative council, Pravin Darekar said, "The actor does his best in portraying the character strongly and advocating the thoughts the character represents. As a party, the NCP should announce its stand. But it seems their priority is to compromise the ideology for staying in power."

'I don't endorse Godse'

Kolhe clarified his position on social media. "The line between reel life and real life needs to be underlined. Some roles are very challenging and we endorse their thoughts as well. But then you also get to do the characters that you do not identify ideologically with. Yet you do it because they are challenging. Godse's is one such. Personally, I do not glorify Gandhi's killer, but tried to do justice to the role. I expect people to see it as a work of art, nothing else," he wrote.