Sri Sri Ravi Shankar called Bollywood a haven for ‘drugs and alcohol', accused film industry of ‘attacking culture of the country'

Indian Express

13 hours ago

Bollywood has always been a polarising industry. While several people have criticsed the 'dark side' of the film industry, many who earn their livelihoods from the movies have mounted a defence. The spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who has interacted with several film industry personalities, accused the entire industry of promoting unethical and immoral practices. Many Bollywood stars have been associated with his foundation, Art of Living.
With a massive crowd in attendance, Sri Sri said in 2013, 'In Bollywood, anybody wearing a tilak is a villain, and anyone with a little pony has to be the bad guy. They bring the dignity of the people who are practising religion into a very bad light so that young people can move away from religion. So that they are susceptible to drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. The only thing that stops one from these things is your religiosity.'
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He criticised the exorbitant fees that actors charge, and how they generalise religious groups or sects for their own convenience. 'They are all up to some mischief. They are attacking the values of the society and culture of the country. They say that all ashrams are bad and all temples are looting money, but that is exactly what they do. An actor only has to sneeze in an ad for Vicks, yet they charge crores of rupees for it.'
Sri Sri stated that 'all Bollywood actors lead miserable lives, with immoral and unethical practices.' He added, 'They may talk about ethics, but if you look at their personal lives, you can't find any. They don't want ethics and religion to blossom. They are like politicians, who make their own enemy and fight against them.' He ended his attack on the film industry by blaming it for the alleged drug problem in Punjab. 'The drugs and alcohol lobby is with Bollywood, and they all want to influence the youth to fall into these bad habits. That's how Punjab got trapped in this, and it is so unfortunate that a state so robust and vibrant is going in this direction,' he said.
Before establishing his own ashram and foundation, Sri Sri was an apprentice of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the originator of Transcendental Meditation, a form of meditation that attracted the British rock band Beatles all the way to Rishikesh.