Mumbai, Sep 8 (IANS) Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray Monday demanded an unconditional apology from actor and MP Jaya Bachchan for her alleged “anti-Marathi” utterances and threatened to prevent the screening of all films starring any of the Bachchans here.
Thackeray’s scathing attack came at a press conference here in response to Jaya’s remark Sunday that north Indians in Maharashtra would prefer to speak in Hindi and not Marathi. She was reportedly speaking at a function to promote her son Abhishek’s upcoming film “Drona”.
The MNS chief said that Jaya had “insulted” the state and its people under the guise of promoting the national language.
“Nobody has the right to insult our mother tongue in the name of the national language,” he thundered.
Thackeray said that if she had so much love for Hindi, then she and her family members, including her husband Amitabh, could work in “advertisements and films in Uttar Pradesh”.
He asserted that unless she apologised, Marathi-speaking people would boycott all products endorsed by members of the Bachchan family.
