by Subhash K Jha

Bollywood Reacts To The Blasts...

Smriti Malhotra: "Citizens are as usual coming forward to deal with an act of cowardice with patience love and respect for human life. Seeing Mumbai get back on its feet so fast I can only say, zindagi jeeti khauf haara.

Hema Malini: "What happened in Mumbai is very shocking and saddening. To watch all those innocent people die helplessly...I cannot get over it. I do have a voice because I'm in politics. But how do I use that voice to avert such calamities?

These situations are made unnecessarily complicated by politics. Miraculously Mumbai bounced back the very next day. Esha left for the shooting of her new Ram Gopal Varma film. I'm leaving for Baabul. But this shouldn't mean that we should forget what happened. It can happen again. And it must not.

Randeep Hooda: "This latest attack shouldn't and won't initimidate Mumbai. We should carry on with our lives and send up a prayer for those who have suffered irretrievable losses.

Panic is exactly what these criminals want from us. Please don't let them have the pleasure of watching us fall into their trap. We won't give in. Mumbai's human spirit is indomitable."

Sammir Dattani: "A friend of mine was out in the evening of the blasts. She travels back home by train. Only her family and her close friends know what we've gone through while we waited for her to return home after Mumbai went blank.

The phones jammed, the roads got clogged, there was panic everywhere. I was caught in a traffic jam with no way to help my missing friend. Is this what the terrorists hoped to achieve? Then they've succeded, I guess."

Madhavan: "I don't know what the perpetrators of this heinous crime have achieved. Whatever it is, I hope they're happy and that they were able to sleep peacefully on Tuesday night.

But I wonder what those innocent people packed like sardines in trains on their way home after a normal grueling day, had done to come to such a gruesome end?

Why do innocent people die in terrorist attacks? Anyway Mumbai...No MORE MR NICE GUY. It's time to get seriously tough on terrorism. Otherwise it will only get worse.

Shabana Azmi & Javed Akhtar: "Acts of terror are acts of cowardice. Terror in any form needs to be condemned. Mumbai will respond with strong condemnation. Let's resolve to fight terror. We need to give our full empathy and compassion for the victims.

Sajid Khan: "Mumbai won't be intimidated by such acts. It's not the rudest, but the toughest city in the world. Every Mumbaikar is a soldier. And if the need arises we'll get seriously rude against our enemies."

Rakeysh Mehra: "11/7 isn't only about Mumbai. It's about an internal attack on India. It's a global issue. We need to undertake a war against terrorism more intensely. Instead of intellectualizing or politicizing the issue we should mount a counter-attack against terrorism and wipe it out, whatever the cost."

Raveena Tandon: "Malnutrition, encroachements, no security, no infrastructure, no planning, no vision. The city is running by itself. Ram Bharose. But Mumbai has remained and will remain a lion-hearted city. And this time Mumbaikars will have to protest on a large scale. The city has taken enough natural and man-made disasters.

No more! The authorities should start functioning for the city instead of being mute spectators, and please give back the services that the city deserves after the kind of taxes that we pay. Stop filling up the politicans' pockets and get cracking before the city cracks.

Iqbal Khan (TV star): "Mumbai is the best city in the world and what makes it the best is the people. The city has seen enough problems, natural and man-made. Maybe other people feel this attack to be drastic. I don't. I'm from Kashmir. I've seen first-hand what militancy can do. They don't scare me."

Rajiv Khandelwal: "I feel the average Munbaikar goes through too much to get cowed down by by this attack. Such cowardly acts don't make an iota of difference in the attitude and strength of the people. The culprits should realize that Mumbai is getting very angry. It's time for terrorists to run for cover."

Dino Morea: "No way should we get frightened by this attack. In fact we should join hands to fight these pathetic people who do such things to get noticed. It's sad, that a city as powerful as Mumbai cannot keep these elements out."

Aftab Shivdasani: "Mumbai is a tough city. People here have the heart and strength to fight any calamity that comes their way. Even though at times we seem to be not equipped for the fight we'll eventually emerge a winner."

Ananth Mahadevan: "The chronology of terrorist attacks in the country particularly Mumbai has become alarming. It's all very well to say we aren't intimidated just to keep our spirits high. But that won't deter these datstardly acts by missionaries of mayhem who strike the innocent in the name of religion and freedom.

Unless one is as mercernary as the killers, one needs to adopt a hard George Bush-like stance against terrorism before it's too late. We cannot have such periodic calamities with the security services caugh napping each time.

Mani Shankar (has just completed a film on terrorism Mukhbiir): "A terrorist attack happens only because it wasn't detected and stopped. So we need to ask...why weren't these terrorist outfits penetrated by informers? The problem is, we return to normal double-quick and forget what happened. We need to take serious action."

K.K Menon: "A word of caution for all those terrorists who want to intimidate Mumbaikars....don't try to punch your hand or bang your head into the tenacious steely spirit of Mumbai, you'll end up with a broken hand or a damaged brain. You can't make a even small dent in our spirit."