On screen the quintessential ‘Ma’ might evoke a lot of emotions, but off screen mum seems like the favourite word for Bollywood. It comes as a surprise, laced with indignation, that most of the big Hindi film stars choose to turn their eyes away from issues that could prove to be ‘unsafe’.

It is a known fact that barring an example or two, mainstream stars of the industry, most of whom are also looked up as icons, refuse to come on record on any controversial issue, thus happily confining themselves to a cocoon of safety.