Actor who posted about Ah Boys to Men 4 audition questioned by cops

SINGAPORE — Freelance actor Shrey Bhargava was questioned by the police over a report lodged concerning his remarks, after his Facebook post on his audition for Singapore film Ah Boys To Men 4 went viral and sparked online debate.

In response to queries, the police said on Thursday (June 1) it had looked into the matter and “assessed that no criminal offence was disclosed”. “As such, Police will not be conducting further investigations in relation to the case,” it said.

Mr Bhargava, 21, told TODAY he met officers at the Tanglin Police Division on Wednesday to explain “the intentions behind (his) post”, among other things.

He said: “Yes, I was called by the (police) for questioning. I was informed there that there were police reports made. I was not informed for what or by whom, that was kept confidential.”

Last Saturday, Mr Bhargava took to Facebook to express his disappointment at being asked by the casting director of the film to “be a more full-blown Indian man”. The post has since been shared 4,500 times and attracted 1,500 comments.

While some commentators saluted him for raising the issue of “casual racism”, there were those who slammed him as well for using the race card.

His post also led Singaporeans from various quarters — including fellow artistes and social media influencers — to weigh in on the discussion about racial stereotypes.

Mr Bhargava said the police told him “not to worry about anything” because he had “done nothing wrong”, but they also advised him to be cautious about what he posts online since others may misinterpret him and his intentions to his “detriment”.

He was also advised to contact the police if hate speech and abusive comments against him worsen.

“The investigation officer and I agreed that I am absolutely against racial violence of any sort and, instead, was only seeking a healthy and productive discussion for the betterment of Singapore’s media landscape and society. Specifically, I wanted Singaporeans to engage in dialogue regarding the inclusion of minorities in the media, as well as to tackle the issue of casual racism in order to create a more inclusive and harmonious Singapore,” he said.

Ah Boys To Men 4 will be jointly produced by J Team Productions and MM2 Entertainment, and directed by Jack Neo.

Approached by the media, J Team Productions issued a statement saying that the casting director was testing Mr Bhargava on his “versatility” as an actor, and had asked him to perform the scene in various ways, including one as a “full blown Indian man”.

However, Mr Bhargava disputed this: “This is not true. I was asked to do the scene only twice. The first time I did without direction. The second time, I did after being given the direction to ‘be more Indian’ and to do it again as a ‘full-blown Indian man’ ... The J Team’s statement has misrepresented the facts ... It has painted me in a damaging and deceptive light. It seems as though I overreacted, or worse, that I lied.”

Contrary to its claims, the J Team had failed to test for versatility, Mr Bhargava argued. “Instead, they defined for me what being Indian ought to mean and that is the crux of the matter ... What did they mean by ‘be more Indian’? Do they have a premeditated idea of what it means? ... And why is being ‘more Indian’ supposed to be ‘funny’?” he asked.