PM is a bigger actor than me, I should give him my award: Prakash Raj 

Actor and National Award winner Prakash Raj, who gained popularity in cinema for his strong portrayal of villains, has launched an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his “silence” on the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, saying the Prime Minister is a “bigger actor” than him.

“The PM is a bigger actor than me, I should give him my award,” he said

“Some of these people who celebrated her (Gauri's) murder are followed by our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) on Twitter. We have a PM who shuts his eyes to this, said the actor at the 11th state meet of the Democratic Youth Federation of India.

Raj said Modi’s silence on “his followers’ actions” proves “he is trying to be a bigger actor than me”.

“I am a renowned actor, do you (Modi) think I will not be able to detect when you are acting. At least show me some respect, considering the fact that I am an actor and I will be able to tell what is the truth and what is acting,”

“Gauri’s killers may not have been caught yet but what is more distressing is those who celebrated her death. We may not be able to see Gauri’s killers but we can see those who have spewed vitriol,” the actor said.

“People who our Prime Minister follows are also among them. We have a Prime Minister who shuts his eyes to this,” he added.

Hitting out at politicians, he further said, “In UP, we don't know whether he's a Chief Minister or the Poojari of a temple. You know, I have 5 national awards. I think I should give them to him.” a report in News Minute quoted him as saying.

Prakash Raj has won 5 National Awards for films across industries in his long career. These are Best Supporting Actor for Iruvar (1997, Tamil), Special Jury Award for Anthapuram (1999,Telugu), Special Jury Award for various movies (2003, multiple languages), Best Actor for Kanchivaram (2007, Tamil), and Best Film for Puttakkana Highway (2010, Kannada).