National award-winning actor Salim Kumar believes there is a dearth of comedy roles in today’s cinema and that political correctness has affected humour in films.
He said in an interview, “There are no comedy roles in the films today. That is why we are doing serious roles. I have always and stills would like to do comedy roles. But there is a dearth of such roles. I love making people laugh.” Stating that political correctness is a barrier to humour, he added, “Now we can’t call someone bald or dark. Political correctness has to be followed in every word. We don’t know when a case will be filed against us.”
Salim said, “Humour cannot be created by being in a cage. Even Kunjan Nambiar criticised the king. Nehru told cartoonist Shankar not to spare him. Humour should be given space without any barriers. Then only humour will exist.” He, however, asserted that body shaming is a bad practice. “Body shaming should not happen. It is bad. But we should not term every word as “body shaming.” Even Mammootty had to apologise for calling someone bald. We have learnt in our childhood that baldness is the symbol of a man. How will it be body-shaming?”
Salim addressed his previous statements that were deemed to support actor Dileep - who is accused of being the mastermind behind the abduction and assault of actor Bhavya. He said, “I have never said that all things that Dileep did were correct. What I said was that we are not the people to judge him or anyone. Neither the media nor the people are qualified to give the judgment. Only the courts are qualified to pass judgment.”
When asked if he is saying Dileep is not at fault, Salim said, “That’s what he told me. When he says ‘I have not done any such thing’, what should I do? I asked him directly, and he swore on his children that he has not done it. I would like to believe he has not done it. My belief may be true or not.”