Ramin Bahrani faces racist comments
'The White Tiger' director Ramin Bahrani faced racist comments while conducting a 'Zoom' interview with director Ava DuVernay and other BAFTA and Academy members, as he was asked to 'go back to his own country' by a bystander.
Speaking about the same to 'People' magazine, Iranian-American director Bahrani said, "I was in Atlanta on location in a residential neighbourhood directing a TV pilot for 'Apple'. 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 do not run us.' His friend told him to calm down and leave it alone. As the driver pulled away, he shouted, 'Go back to your own country!'"
While Ava, who was on call, could not hear the person's exact words, she insisted that Ramin should open up about his experience so that more people are made aware of the racism that minorities face every day in the US.
"Ramin was very calm, 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 interview. But I asked if we could take a moment to discuss it because normalising that kind of hideous behavior is what people like the offender expects. Ramin deserved a moment to be heard and to share and not have it glossed over," DuVernay told 'People'.
'The White Tiger' star and executive producer Priyanka Chopra Jonas also weighed in on the matter and said that Hollywood has a great responsibility in righting these wrongs.
"Who belongs here and who does not? Is not 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 families," she said.
The global icon added, "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."
