Actor Lara Dutta praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his disparaging speech against Muslims during a recent campaign in Rajasthan on April 21. In an interview with Zoom Entertainment while promoting her upcoming show Ranneeti: Balakot & Beyond, Lara Dutta appreciated Modi for “sticking to his convictions.” 

She said, “We are all humans at the end of the day and it is difficult to please everyone all the time. You can’t keep treading on eggshells just because you don’t want to upset one side or the other. Somewhere down the line, you have to be honest with your truth and what you believe in. And if he [the Prime Minister] has the gumption to be able to do that, kudos. At the end of the day, you have to stand by your beliefs.” 

In the interview, Lara was accompanied by her co-star Jimmy Shergill who also expressed his disdain for ‘unpatriotic Indian citizens.’ According to The Indian Express, he said, “If you’re born in this country, you are born with patriotism. If you are not, then you have to do a reality check on yourself.” 

In his hate speech directed at Muslims, Modi said that the Congress will distribute people’s wealth to “infiltrators” and those “who have more children”, in an explicit reference to Muslims.

He also went on to claim that the Congress manifesto talks about taking gold from their “mothers and daughters” and distributing it to Muslims. Modi repeated the same claims on April 22 in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh without referencing Muslims.

Ranneeti: Balakot & Beyond is releasing on April 25 on the OTT platform Jio Cinemas. The show is set in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack by Pakistan and how the Indian army counters it.