Fearless artists who have dared to voice out their opinions

Celebrities, by and large, are very conscious of their image and they would think twice before making a public statement, let alone voicing their opinion that would mar their image. It takes immense courage and boldness for them to call spade a spade. Here is a list of artists like Sona Mohapatra, Tanmay Bhatt, Swara Bhasker, Pooja Bhatt, and Kunal Kamra, who have never shied away from being open and that is what makes them unique.

1) Tanmay Bhat
 
The 35-year-old comedian, scriptwriter, performer, producer, and YouTuber, Tanmay was the co-founder and CEO of the creative agency, All India Bakchod (AIB). Political parties had taken action against Tanmay and AIB in 2016 when he superimposed the faces of singer Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar to enact an argument on who is better among Virat Kohli and the master blaster. The video was titled, 'Sachin vs Lata Civil War'. The Mumbai police had asked Facebook and YouTube to block this mockery video using the legends. In 2015, the AIB knock-out hosted by Karan Johar involved the roast of Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor that invited lashes from religious groups and political leaders. This show, which drew public criticism for using abusive and vulgar language, had to be removed from their channel and YouTube. An FIR was also booked against him for mocking the Prime Minister by creating a meme on him on Snapchat.

2) Sona Mohapatra
 
Internet trolls and blasphemy lawsuits have never dampened singer, lyricist, and composer Sona Mohapatra’s spirit to fight against injustice. She has created a wave among the Twitterati for her unfettered views against patriarchy, sexism, gender policing, and inequality. In 2016, Sona, through her Facebook page, confronted the organisers of Mood Indigo — IIT-Bombay's inter-collegiate festival — for being 'sexist', through an open letter. In 2018, Sona called out powerful men like Anu Malik and Kailash Kher for their gender insensitivity. When Madariya Sufi Foundation threatened her and observed that her song ‘Tori Surat’ incited communal tension and was supposedly vulgar, Sona took it to Twitter and alerted the Mumbai police. Seniority, power, and stardom do not stop Sona from being vocal. She slammed Salman Khan for comparing himself to a raped woman after completing the shoot of his movie ‘Sultan’. More recently, her 95-minute riveting documentary titled, ‘Shut Up Sona’ is a tongue-in-cheek take at a feisty female music star's unrelenting fight against patriarchy and misogyny in her personal and professional life. Soon after the release of this film on ZEE5, Sona, in her tweet wrote to the Twitter CEO, Parag Agarwal, “Mr. Parag, your alma mater has forever not wanted me to get centre stage. So, I had to create it for myself through this documentary. I hope you can watch it and perhaps get a perspective on what female artists in 21st-century India still go through.” Parag is also the alma mater of IIT Bombay, the institution she had called out through her Facebook post. 
 
3) Swara Bhasker
 
The Bollywood actress Swara Bhasker has never been deterred from voicing her opinions on social media platforms. Swara, through her controversial statement about Pakistan, calls it a failing country on one side and the best country she has visited ever inviting wrath from both borders. In an open letter to Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the actress said that the climax of Padmavat made her reduced to a vagina and that it was not right to glorify self-immolation or Jauhar. “Women are not only walking talking vaginas,” she mentioned in the long letter, after an initial pour of praise for the director. She said that Padmavat’s context is not the 13th century and that it is in the 21st century.  She has also vocally criticised the views of Paresh Rawal and Kangana Ranaut. The ‘Anaarkali of Aarah’ actor says that women should think and act beyond the "fear of what will happen if I do this". Her plain spoke nature has received her death threats and she has been abused and slut shamed on various occasions. 
 
4) Pooja Bhatt
 
Known as the controversial queen of Bollywood, Pooja Bhat has always invited flak from society. She had locked horns with Karishma Kapoor when she made offensive remarks about the latter’s parents. She also became the centre of the storm, she was seen lip-locking with his father, Mahesh Bhatt on the cover of Stardust magazine. With her bold photoshoots and interviews – be it her bikini pics or her cover pic on Cine Blitz titled, “I’m not a virgin!”, she has always made headlines. Pooja has never been reluctant to talk about her not-so-rosy personal life which included her failed relationships and her fight with alcoholism, which finally went to a sober state. In an Instagram post, she wrote " As someone who drank openly, I chose to recover openly. I truly felt it was important to share my journey to tell others, women especially, who might be struggling that they are not alone and if I could do it so could they".
 
5) Kunal Kamra
 
Known for his observational comedies on the absurdities in politics, bachelor life, and TV advertisements, Kunal Kamra has often been embroiled in controversies, since his very first stand-up clip and his political comedy podcast 'Shut Up Ya Kunal'. Kunal has been unapologetic about his remarks, be it in the journalist Arnab Goswami, The Chief Justice of Supreme Court S A Bobde, or Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Two years ago, Kunal, on his Twitter, released a 1.51-minute-long video where he called Arnab a coward and nationalist, where Arnab is seen being non-responsive. This invited a ban from Indigo and other flights. Following this, in the same year, contempt of court proceedings was initiated against him for his derogatory tweet against the Supreme Court Chief Justice, Arvind Bobde. He, with a photo of his two fingers in the backdrop of an airline window, tweeted, "One of these two fingers is for Arvind Bobde..ok let me not confuse you, it’s the middle one”. The comedian, colouring his tweets as jokes said that it was intended to draw the attention of the justice to granting interim bail to Arnab. His tweets were regarded as in bad taste by the judicial fraternity. He also criticized the government through a column in the New York Times. In a recent turn of events, Kunal has been lashed by the netizens for morphing a video of a seven-year-old boy, singing for Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his visit to Germany.