Two days after Ranveer Singh’s team maintained that the actor will maintain a dignified silence over the ongoing row over him walking out of Farhan Akhtar’s directorial Don 3, Shobhaa De has lauded the actor’s strategic position. The veteran author also claimed that the recent ‘ban’ by a film body also seems to be an “ugly conspiracy” against not only Ranveer, but also the makers of his latest blockbuster spy thriller franchise, Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar.

“Ranveer Singh is sensible, clever, well-advised. He’s holding his silence. He’s keeping quiet, letting his fans and followers fight his battles for him,” said Shobhaa in an Instagram reel she put out on Wednesday evening. “What Ranveer has successfully done by keeping quiet is enhance his own brand appeal and also his popularity,” she added.

Earlier this week, the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) issued a “non-cooperation directive” against the actor after he allegedly didn’t appear before them to address his side of the story in a complaint filed by Farhan and Ritesh Sidhwani’s production house Excel Entertainment over his sudden and unceremonious exit from Don 3 this past December, three weeks before the commencement of production overseas.

However, Ranveer, whose representative told FWICE that they’ve no jurisdiction over the matter, issued a statement through his team after the alleged ‘ban’. “While several narratives and speculations have surfaced over time, Ranveer has never considered it necessary to respond publicly or contribute to conjecture. Choosing restraint and grace in moments like these has always been a conscious decision on his part, and he will continue to maintain the same stance,” it stated.

Soon after, Poonam Dhillon, President of another film body, CINTAA (Cine and TV Artists’ Association), called FWICE’s ban on Ranveer “strange” and claimed that the actor should’ve come to them for support.  “What is happening is something very ugly, and it goes well beyond one lobby trying to fix another very powerful lobby. There should be no political ideology when it comes to entertainment and when it comes to the careers of not just one star, but an entire sub-industry of technicians and others who are really badly hit by the so-called ban or refusal to cooperate,” argued Shobhaa.

She further claimed that the “conspiracy” is not only limited to the actor, but also Aditya Dhar, the producer-director of the Dhurandhar franchise, which became the highest grossing Indian franchise ever as it amassed over Rs 3000 crore at the worldwide box office earlier this year. “In Ranveer’s case, he is an iconic movie star. He’s a phenomenon, and his stupendous success, which has to be credited to his director Aditya Dhar and producer of Dhurandhar, seems to be a conspiracy not just against one star – that’s Ranveer Singh – but against Dhurandhar or everyone involved in it, in particular the director and producer,” added Shobhaa.

The veteran author also claimed that by getting involved in the matter between Ranveer and Excel Entertainment, the FWICE is only desperately trying to be relevant. “Who is FWICE? I think I’ve got that right, because they didn’t register with me. I don’t think they’re all that important, but suddenly they have assumed the kind of importance to say, ‘Oh, we won’t allow this man, this superstar, the most successful actor in India, to get to the studios and to his work,'” said Shobhaa.

“In the process, they’re making themselves extremely unpopular with the very lobby they think they are protecting — the technicians and all the others who are going to be out of jobs for no fault of theirs. If it’s a question that had to be resolved between Excel, Farhan Akhtar and Ranveer Singh, they could have either hired lawyers or gone to court, but not involved whoever these people are,” she added.

Also Read: Is Ranveer Singh ban legal? Its impact on his next Pralay, and why Farhan didn’t go to court

Calling Ranveer the “Delhi Gymkhana of Bollywood”, Shobhaa argued, “It’s about power, it’s about control, it’s about banning, it’s about taking away, it’s about putting people in their place, it’s about teaching lessons to people or institutions. Maybe there’s a sense of overprivileged or taking advantage of a certain position, without going into the legalities of it.”