Priyanka Chopra reacts to 'The White Tiger' director Ramin Bahrani facing racist comments

IranianAmerican directorwriter Ramin Bahrani who is nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for the Netflix film The White Tiger was subjected to racist remarks from a bystander while speaking to a group of Academy and BAFTA membersAs per People magazine last week Bahrani who was born and raised in North Carolina was doing a Zoom QampA with The White Tiger executive producer Ava DuVernay when the incident occurredI was in Atlanta on location in a residential neighbourhood directing a TV pilot for Apple Bahrani told People magazineHe added We had worked late that day so I had to do my Zoom interview with Ava on my phone while we were still in the street During the interview I noticed a car parked behind me When the driver saw me and my colleague who is South Asian he said You all think you run the world You all dont run sHis friend told him to calm down and leave it alone As the driver pulled away he shouted Go back to your own countryDuVernay who couldnt hear the words themselves in the moment encouraged Bahrani to talk about what had just happenedRamin was very calm she said She added Very matter of fact Which saddened me It was as if he was used to that type of treatment Being the ultimate professional he suggested we proceed with the interviewDuVernay further said But I asked if we could take a moment to discuss it because normalizing that kind of hideous behaviour is what people like the offender expects And Ramin deserved a moment to be heard and to share and not have it glossed over He talked about having experienced this kind of racial targeting in other public spaces many times beforePriyanka Chopra Jonas who is both an executive producer and stars in the Netflix film was not present but offered Bahrani her supportAsking me about my thoughts on what happened to Ramin is a sign of where we stand today and the work we have to continue to do the 38yearold star told People magazinePriyanka added So my question in response is who belongs here and who doesnt Isnt America a melting pot of all people from all backgrounds This country was built on the back of immigrants in search of the American dream a life of freedom opportunity and a safe place not only for themselves but for their familiesNow that a few days have passed Bahrani has had time to process what happenedWhen I told my brother about it he lives in NC he sent me an article from the exact same day about a man in an affluent neighborhood near Raleigh who had physically assaulted a ChineseAmerican woman and an Iranian man he saidHe added In fact just a few weeks earlier someone from Los Angeles told me The former president didnt build a wall tall enough to keep you outBahrani further said All this made me recall a Nelson Mandela quote No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion People must learn to hateMeanwhile DuVernay said This is what artists of colour artists who are not centered or valued have to endure We cannot just make and focus on our work like our white male counterparts We make our work AND must also endure and negotiate our way through all the filth of racism xenophobia sexism and other bias that permeates our country and our industryPriyanka concluded This is about how common it is for many communities to live with incidents like this happening all the time Content by Hollywood is embraced by the world but the world is not always embraced by Hollywood Hollywood and pop culture in general have a massive responsibility in this fight for racial equality and representation in global entertainment The White Tiger premiered in January 2021 on Netflix and also starred Rajkummar Rao and Mahesh Manjrekar The White Tiger directed by Bahrani explores Indias class struggle and is told from the perspective of Balram Adarsh a lowerclass citizen who becomes a chauffeur for a rich landlord named Ashok and his wife named Pinky played by Rajkummar and Priyanka respectivelyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever