Should Celebrities Avoid Political Activism?

As the risks of speaking up are lower today, they should be less worried about their fan following

Over the past few weeks, several actors have spoken out against the Citizenship Amendment Act-National Population Register-National Register of Citizens (CAA-NPR-NRC) as well as the attack on students and faculty in Jawaharlal Nehru University. In a conversation moderated by Radhika Santhanam, Parvathy Thiruvothu and Dilip Cherian discuss why so many celebrities are suddenly speaking up and whether their voices make a difference. Edited excerpts:

Parvathy, activism is not new in the film industry. We had film personalities protesting during the Emergency. Many also speak up about specific issues – you, for instance, have consistently been critical of misogynist dialogues in films, among other things. However, what is different today is that so many film personalities are speaking up across regions, which we have rarely seen in recent times. What do you think has pushed them to speak up against the CAA-NPR-NRC and the violence in JNU and other universities?