When Dev anand and Amjad Khan paid for their sins

Dev Anand was one Indian who was never scared of speaking out the truth, especially when it came to matters of national interest, He was known as”the voice of dissent" or”the voice of the opposition".  When asked about his thinking, he said,”asking questions about the wrong that is done by a government in power is the right of every man and woman in a democracy”.He was offered a seat in the Rajya Sabha more than once, but he turned down the offers saying," I would like to go to Parliament, but to raise my voice and not just to be number, for that, there are so many waiting in every corner"

Ali Peter John

The Courageous Dev Anand Sahab, even in front of PM Mrs. Gandhi

Dev Anand was most vociferous in speaking out his opinion during the reign of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. He had the courage to lash out against the Emergency when most were bowing and bending before the mighty power of Mrs. Gandhi.

It was during this time that Dev Anand not only gave interviews against the government, but also wrote about the missuse of power by Mrs. Gandhi's son Sanjay Gandhi and senior members of her cabinet. There were talks about his being warned by Sanjay Gandhi himself, but nothing seemed to deter him.

As a punishment, Dev Anand's movies faced serious censor problems

But punishment was to come for him. All his films that were released during the Emergency and even after it faced serious censor problems which according to sources was a way to teach him a lesson. But whatever was done to scare him failed to stop him from expressing his opinions against the powers that be. It was as a retaliation to this kind of a treatment that Dev launched his own National Party which created a sensation all over the country. But the Party could not live for long because of the leaders who did not understand Dev’s purpose of starting the party. Dev however continued to be the voice of the opposition till the very end.

And if there was another star who never stopped from talking against the ruling power, it was Amjad Khan.

It was a panel discussion on censorship being held at the Air India Auditorium at Nariman Point. The discussion panels had many eminent speakers and Amjad was one of them. The then Union Information and Broadcasting minister Mr H.K. L Bhagat was the chief guest.

Amjad was making his point at the discussion when he saw Me Bhagat dozing and told the audience,”ye dekhiye hamaare mantriji so rage hai, ye hammari Baat kya samjhenge?" Mr Bhagat was livid with anger, but couldn't say a word then but he never forgot how Amjad had slighted him and the result was seen when both the films directed by Amjad” Police Chor” and Ameer Aadmi Gareeb Aadmi” were massacred by the censors. Amjad wanted to face the challenge of making his film his way and announced” Lanbaaee Chaudaayee" which he was planning to make with himself and his friend, Amitabh Bachchan, but his accident stopped him and he couldn't fullfil his ambition as he died when he was only 47.

Do we have men with the calibre and courage like Dev and Amjad today