Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday questioned the state government's decision to accord a state funeral to Bollywood actor Sridevi last month.
"Sridevi was a great actor, but what did she do for the country? Why was her body wrapped in the tricolour?" he asked.
The media might have covered her funeral extensively at the government's behest to divert the people's attention from the Nirav Modi-Punjab National Bank scam, he said.
The government was trying to control the media, judiciary and agencies like the CBI, Thackeray said, alleging that the media was under tremendous pressure from the BJP-led government.
The MNS chief also said films like "Toilet Ek Prem Katha" and "Padman" were a covert propaganda for government schemes.
Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, who starred in both the films, was trying to follow the footsteps of Manoj Kumar, an actor who was popularly known as "Bharat Kumar", he added.
"But Akshay Kumar is not even an Indian citizen. He holds a Canadian passport and Wikipedia describes him as an Indian-born Canadian actor," Thackeray said.
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