Cinema VinesAt a rally organised by the Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena, the student wing of the MNS, Raj Thackeray took a hard line against two Bollywood actors who have publicly lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi while choosing to live abroad. The event, held in Mumbai on Saturday, saw the party leader question the motives of Vivek Oberoi and R. Madhavan, both of whom have spent recent years residing in Dubai.
Thackeray began by highlighting Oberoi’s role as Modi in the 2019 biopic “Modi: The Untold Story.” He pointed out that the actor, who had celebrated the Prime Minister’s achievements on screen, has now moved to Dubai, asking, “Why live in Dubai if you love India?” The MNS president went on to ask why Madhavan, who has praised Modi’s development agenda, is also based in Dubai with his family. He added that the actors “will come here, work in a government-sponsored film like Dhurandhar and then will go back to Dubai.”
Both actors have explained their moves for personal reasons. Madhavan said he relocated during the COVID‑19 pandemic to support his son’s swimming career, while Oberoi cited business interests as the main driver for his move to the United Arab Emirates. Despite these explanations, Thackeray maintained that their decisions contradicted their public support for India’s progress.
During the same address, Thackeray also tackled the language used against Modi during the Cockroach Janta Party protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. He praised the Prime Minister’s call for forgiveness of “misguided children” and urged that such low‑level language should be avoided, even by BJP supporters. He accused BJP troll groups of targeting public figures, including historic leaders and members of the Thackeray family, and warned that abusive language would not be tolerated.
Thackeray further suggested that the NEET paper leak controversy may have sparked the CJP protests, but he emphasised that the large turnout reflected long‑standing grievances. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader concluded that the actors’ overseas residency was a glaring contradiction to their public praise of India and its development under Modi’s leadership.
