I've lived through what happened to Kamra: Hansal Mehta

The director who is known for films like 'Shahid', 'Citylights' and the series 'Scam 1992' strongly condemned the vandalisation of the venue in Mumbai where Kamra had performed his show. 

Hansal recalled a similar experience he faced 25 years ago when some people from the political party Shiva Sena (then undivided) vandalised his office and forcefully made him apologise to an older woman for a single line of dialogue in his film.

In a social media post on Instagram, 'Shahid' director wrote, "What happened with Kamra is, sadly, not new to Maharashtra. I've lived through it myself. Twenty-five years ago, loyalists of the same (then undivided) political party stormed into my office. They vandalised it, physically assaulted me, blackened my face, and forced me to apologise publicly-by falling at the feet of an elderly woman-for a single line of dialogue in my film." 

He further claimed that at least "20 political figures arrived at full strength" at the venue to shame him publicly while Mumbai Police watched the whole incident without taking any actions. 

"The line was harmless, almost trivial. The film had already been cleared by the Censor Board with 27 other cuts. But that didn't matter. At the so-called "apology" venue, at least 20 political figures arrived in full strength to oversee what can only be described as a public shaming-with 10,000 onlookers and the Mumbai Police watching in silence," wrote Hansal Mehta. 

The filmmaker reflected on the past incident and condemned "violence, intimidation and humiliation" for an expression of disagreement. "That incident didn't just bruise my body. It bruised my spirit. It blunted my filmmaking, muted my courage, and silenced parts of me that took years to reclaim. No matter how deep the disagreement, no matter how sharp the provocation-violence, intimidation, and humiliation can never be justified. We owe ourselves, and each other, better. We owe ourselves dialogue, dissent, and dignity." -- ANI