'Your art has no value': Imran Khan reacts to artists being apolitical amid student protests

Imran Khan. Pic via Instagram

Actor Imran Khan, who has been supporting the ongoing student protests, showed up on the streets of Mumbai to participate in a protest march on July 22, 2026. During the protest, Imran spoke to the demonstrators and even posed for selfies with them. Now a video of the actor from the march has emerged, wherein he was asked about actors who do not support such movements and claim that art should remain apolitical.

Imran Khan on artists being apolitical

During the protest, an aspiring actor asked Imran if he had anything to say to artists who believe that art is not political. Responding to the question, Imran smiled before saying, "True art is going to have an individual artist point of you embedded within it, and as part of our human nature, we are going to have opinion and perspective that we hold through to ourselves."

He went on to say, "If you can't stand by your opinions and if you do not pour your own heart into your art, your art has no value."

Imran Khan supports students

Notably, Imran has been one of the early supporters of the protests, vocally voicing his opinion and solidarity. Earlier, following the news of violence against students at the Jantar Mantar, Imran had taken to Instagram to express his discontent, saying that the very system meant to protect and support the students had already failed them.

He wrote, "Something broke in me today. Watching as police gassed and battered student protestors… how could I make sense of this? These students who worked hard, only to be failed by the system. These people who asked to be heard, only to be met with silence. These citizens who stood up to show what matters to them… beaten down and disowned by the establishment."

He further added, "Are these not the children of Mother India? If not them, for whom do we build, and whose future do we claim to protect? Those who demand ‘organisation' from students protesting education reform, but don't apply such lofty standards of accountability to established authority; bootlickers, one and all."