Asha Parekwho received the Dadasaheb Phalke award in September, recently spoke about the negativity of the film Pathaan and its actor Deepika Padukone has received. After the release of her debut song Besharam Rang, Deepika was slammed by a few people for donning an orange bikini. The veteran actor has come to Deepika’s defense. (Also read: Asha Parekh on her Dadasaheb Phalke award: “All my wishes are now granted”)

The 80-year-old actress has been retired from film for more than two decades, but can be seen occasionally on reality shows for special episodes. In 2017, Asha released her autobiography, Hit Girl, which was written with journalist Khalid Mohamed.

In an interview with Aaj Tak, the veteran actor was asked about the negativity about the film industry that lingers on social media. She referenced people attacking Deepika in the song Besharam Rang and said, “Yeh bahut galat hai, movie toh movie hai. Jiska mool, maksad entertainment hai. Ab kisi actress ne, orange pehen liya, ya naam kuch aisa ho gaya toh usse ban kar rahe hai? Yeh nahi achha lagta hai (This is very wrong, a movie is a movie. Which is mostly entertainment. If an actress wears orange, or the name is different, you start banning it? Doesn’t look good).” She went to say the film industry is dying because the movies don’t work. If people keep boycotting movies on top of that, it hurts the industry because it prevents more movies from being made.

She added, “Bikini per bawaal nahi tha, yahan toh orange rang ki bikini ko lehkar sawaal uth rahe hai. Mujhe lagta hai ki hamara dimaag ab bandh hota ja raha hai. Hum bahut hi chhoti soch ke hote ja rahe hai, jo galat hai. Bollywood hamesha ke liye soft target raha hai (It wasn’t an uproar over the bikini, it was the orange color of the bikini that was in question. I think our brain is going wrong. Bollywood is still an easy target).

Pathaan, which also stars Shah Rukh Khan and John Abraham, is released on January 25, 2023. Produced by Yash Raj Films, it is directed by Siddharth Anand.