PM Narendra Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath are better actors than me, they deserve all my national awards: Prakash Raj

One of the finest actors of Indian cinema, Prakash Raj slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his silence over the murder of noted journalist Gauri Lankesh. He also stated that he is ready to give all his national awards to politicians as the actor feels they deserved the awards more than he did because of their acting.

Prakash Raj, who's known for films like Iruvar and Kanchivaram, made this shocking statement during the inauguration of the 11th State meet of Democratic Youth Federation of India.

The national award winning actor hit out at PM Modi for being silent on the shocking death of Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru. He also slammed supporters of the right wing who have been celebrating Gauri Lankesh's murder on social media.

"We don’t know who killed my dear friend Gauri Lankesh, but we can see the people who are celebrating her murder. In my life, I have never seen so much abuse like what happens on social media. Some people followed by our Prime Minister on Twitter spew venom. And the Prime Minister turns a blind eye to this?"

"You can’t make me believe by making promises of good days. See, I’m a bigger actor than you people (Modi government) and I can tell when you are acting. Please respect the fact that I’m a professional actor. When you act as if you don’t know anything, do you think I or people will buy it?"

“I saw a video, I couldn’t tell if he was Uttar Pradesh chief minister or a temple priest. Looks like he plays a double role. When I see such talented actors, I feel like giving them all five National Awards that were given to me,” Raj said adding that, “Let’s not be afraid of such people. They are not stronger than us. Our weakness is their strength.”

"The source of all problems is people’s ignorance. Every one of us is an ignorant. When ignorant people vote in exams called elections, obviously, only bad people will come to power. Electors think they are innocent but in reality, they are ignorant. When my fans asked to form fan clubs for me, I rejected it. I told them I act in films if you like watch it or don’t. I live my life and you live yours. Ignorant people pose risk to others because of their innocent mistakes. If you don’t know something you should make an effort to understand it or listen when right people tell you right things. Unless we realize that we are responsible for all the wrong things that happen around us, there won’t be any change in our society," Prakash Raj said.

Gauri Lankesh was a close friend of Prakash Raj for over three decades.