It was the Information and Broadcasting minister's riposte to those who accuse this government of not having the stomach for good humour. Smriti Irani at the inauguration of the International film festival of India 2017 in Goa showed she can not only take a joke but even make a point out of it.
The minister on Monday told the gathering at one of Asia's biggest film festivals that her calm response to some good-natured banter by one of the hosts proved how tolerant her government is.
Her remarks came after actor Rajkummar Rao, who was co-hosting the inaugural ceremony along with Radhika Apte, joked, “What a co-incidence Majid Majidi (director of the IFFI’s opening film Beyond the Clouds) is an ‘Irani’ just like our union minister Smriti Irani.
Later, when Irani took the stage to greet everyone, she said, “Rajkummar, the entire country should know this (referring to his joke) that you only poked fun at a minister and it only shows as a government how tolerant we are."
“I also thank you (Rajkumar Rao) because it shouldn't go down that an actor was beaten up because he made fun of a BJP minister,” she added.
Majid Majidi's film Beyond the Clouds, which marks Shahid Kapoor’s brother Ishaan Khatter’s film debut, had its South Asian premiere at IFFI.
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