‘They are biting hands that feed them’: Jaya Bachchan slams those vilifying Bollywood

Amid the raging controversy over the death of Sushant Singh Rajput and the subsequent blame game that has been going on for the past three months, Samajwadi Party member Jaya Bachchan on Tuesday raised the issue of continuous effort to defame the film industry in the Rajya Sabha.

Bachchan demanded the government to provide protection and put a ban on the unending bashing being faced by members of the film industry.

"Some of the people who have got name and fame has said it is 'gutter'," she said, without naming the individuals but added they should not defame the industry.

"It is the film industry that gave name and fame to many people," she said. Their is a continuous process to defame the industry for the things done by a handful, she added.

She said that there are people in the industry, who are the highest tax payers and they are being harassed. "All kind of promises are being made to industry but never kept," she added.

"I think the government must stand by the entertainment industry as it always comes forward to help the government in whatever effort it makes. If there is national calamity, they give their money and everything. The government must support it and not kill it," she said, adding, "Just because there are a few people (doing bad things), you cannot tarnish the image of the entire industry."

The veteran actor, who is married to Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, said the entertainment industry brings international name and recognition to the country.

Taking a swipe at actor and BJP MP from Gorakhpur Ravi Kishan, without taking his name, Jaya Bachchan said: "I was really embarrassed and ashamed as a Lok Sabha MP spoke against industry."

"Jis thaali me khate hai, usi me ched karte hai," she said in Hindi in a dig at the actor, literally meaning destroying the goose that lays the golden egg.

Kangana Ranaut and several other actors have opened up over the use of drugs in Bollywood. Amid the drug controversy, Ranaut has compared Mumbai to POK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir). The BrihanMumbai Corporation has also razed Ranaut's office in Mumbai over illegal construction leading to fresh war of words between the state government and the actor.

She said that film Industry employs many people in different areas and some are highest individual tax payers.

The veteran actor, who is married to Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan is also upset over comments on social media and the media.

The recent barbs between the film fraternity has sharpened since the death of Sushant Singh Rajput on June 14, and Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut's continued vitriolic verbal attacks on her colleagues in the industry.