Why did Bollywood stars meet Modi?

Actors Ranveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Rajkummar Rao, Vicky Kaushal, Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar and Sidharth Malhotraa, led by film-maker Karan Johar, met Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi to discuss how the industry can contribute towards 'nation building'.

The meeting comes weeks after Modi met Bollywood producers and discussed issues faced by the industry, which led to the reduction in GST on film tickets by the government.

The delegation also included Directors Rohit Shetty and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Producers Ekta Kapoor and Mahaveer Jain.

Johar later took to Instagram to share a group selfie with Modi.

'Powerful and timely conversations can bring about change and this was one of what we hope will become a regular conversation. Meeting the Honourable Prime Minister @narendramodi today was an incredible opportunity,' Johar captioned it.

Johar claimed the meeting would ignite positive changes.

'As a community, there is a huge interest to contribute to nation building. There is so much that we want to do. And can do and this dialogue was towards how and what ways we can do that. When the youngest country (in demography) joins hands with the largest movie industry in the world, we hope to be a force to reckon with. Together we would love to inspire and ignite positive changes to a transformative India,' Johar stated.

The producers meeting with Modi in December had drawn flak on social media for lack of female representation on the panel. Thursday's panel had Bhumi, Alia, Ekta and Ashwini.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Karan Johar/Instagram