Loving your country not enough to be patriot, says Alia

Actress Alia Bhatt, who plays a spy in the forthcoming film ‘Raazi’, says she learnt a new definition of patriotism which is more about contribution to the well-being of people selflessly rather than just feeling proud and loving your country.

"I learnt that what we believe is patriotism is quite opposite of what true patriotism is. We say we are patriots because we are living in the country and we love our country, but that is not enough," Alia told media in Mumbai  on Friday. 

"We have to participate in activities that may not be beneficial to you but the larger population. During the journey of narrating the character, this is what I learnt which made me participate in things much more actively. What is the point of having so many followers on social media if I can't use my voice?"

The actress went to a village in Maharashtra along with superstar Aamir Khan on May 1 to actively participate in ‘shramdaan' in the process of water conservation.She shared: "You know you don't need to express your opinion all the time. You can feel for things and take action to solve a problem, instead of talking about the problem. "When I went with Aamir, I understood that he is imparting knowledge to the villagers who need it, to survive and deal with the drought crisis of Maharashtra."

"I think that is true patriotism. That is why action speaks louder than words. What is the point of having a take on an issue, if I am not resolving the problem?" she explained. ‘Raazi’, a cross-border spy drama, is based on the book titled "Calling Sehmat". The film is set in Kashmir.

"In the film, Kashmir is not depicted in a negative light. Kashmir is a beautiful place and I love it. It is really unfortunate that their tourism business, which is a big part of the revenue, is affected because of the incidents that took place. People think that Kashmir is not a safe place to go, but that is not true," Alia added.