more-in The most eloquent of protests can be expressed through art. Like actor Alencier did in Kasaragod. His one-man street play, which sought to hit out at a BJP leader who suggested that director Kamal move to Pakistan, may have put him in the limelight, but he has been staging similar protests for decades. “What I did in Kasaragod got noticed because now I am an actor in cinema,” Alencier told The Hindu on Friday. “I have staged several such guerilla theatres in the past.” In Kasaragod, he stopped buses and asked the conductor if he could get a ticket to the U.S. or Portugal. “I chose those countries because I felt my name would suit them more than Pakistan,” he explained. “I did it not just because of the Kamal incident; I was upset when writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair was also attacked for commenting on demonetisation.” The actor, noted for his roles in films such as Njan Steve Lopez and Maheshinte Prathikaram, said India was a country of diverse voices and he wanted it to remain that way. “Politics polarising people is bad enough, but religion doing that is even more dangerous,” he said. “When the Babri Masjid was demolished, in 1992, I felt something grave was going to happen to our nation.” He reacted by running around the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’. “Since prohibition orders were in force, not many people were there,” he recalled. “The policemen probably thought I was mad and did not detain me.” When Ghulam Ali was not allowed to sing in the country, he protested by making playback singer M.S. Naseem hum the maestro’s popular ghazals at a programme. “I remember watching Naseem sing patriotic songs on television,” he said. “It is disturbing to find ours is becoming an increasingly intolerant society. People do not react to it because they fear.” Alancier said he was not bothered about the odd negative reaction that his protest in Kasaragod attracted. “Somebody commented that I did it in order to get a role in a Kamal film; nothing could be more ridiculous,” he said. “I have more films than I can handle. Besides, I had once argued with Kamal when I felt he had slighted me, though he actually had not and it turned out to be only a case of miscommunication.” He said he was glad that most people responded positively. “I knew they would,” he said. “From the film industry, director Lal Jose and actors Mammootty, Anoop Menon and Suraj Venjaramoodu were among those who complimented me.”

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