Kolkata/IBNS: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan on Thursday sent a strong message indirectly to the boycott calls of his upcoming Hindi film Pathaan from the dais of the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) inauguration here.

At the end of his well crafted speech, Shah Rukh said, "... I have no objection in saying that whatever the world does, people like us, who are positive, are alive."

Shah Rukh said this while actor Deepika Padukone's attire in a song from Shah Rukh Khan starrer upcoming Hindi film Pathaan has drawn the ire of Madhya Pradesh minister and the country's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Narottam Mishra.

In the backdrop of the controversy, Shah Rukh with all grace talked about how social media is often "driven by narrowness".

In a well crafted statement which is viewed as a response to a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader's objection to Deepika's revealing outfit, Shah Rukh said, "Cinema and advent of articulation through social media platforms have become the foremost expression of human experience and emotion. The collective narrative of the times is shaped by social media."

"I feel that cinema has an even more important role to play now. Social media is often driven by a certain narrowness of view that limits human nature to itself. And it's somewhere negativity increases social media consumption, and thereby increases its commercial value as well. Such pursuits enclose the collective narrative, making it divisive and destructive."

"Cinema exposes the vulnerability of human nature by telling stories in their simplest form as they are lived. It allows us to know each other better. In a way, it is best placed to sustain a collective counter-narrative that speaks to the larger nature of humankind. A narrative that brings to the fore humanity's immense capacity for compassion, unity and brotherhood," the 57-year-old actor added.