Indians should go to Lakshadweep, Pankaj Tripathi said, adding that “people go to the Maldives only to show off.”

Unexpectedly, Indian travelers have launched a boycott of the Maldives in response to reports that three Maldivian officials made fun of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was visiting Lakshadweep. Celebrities and common people in India have been aggressively pushing their countrymen to choose Lakshadweep over the Maldives as a holiday destination.

Following his journey to Lakshadweep, when he avoided specifically naming the Maldives in his postings, the dispute broke out. But others saw his passionate adulation of Lakshadweep’s stunning scenery as a calculated ploy to lure travelers away from the Maldives and toward India.

Actor Pankaj Tripathi of Bollywood is one of the few who has spoken on the issue between Lakshadweep and the Maldives. In a recent interview with News18, Tripathi—who is now promoting his new film Main Atal Hoon, in which he plays the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party—expressed his opinions on the subject.

In response to a question concerning travel to the Maldives, Tripathi said that most individuals choose the destination for their showy social media displays. Rather, he argued in favour of going to Ayodhya or Lakshadweep, highlighting his ongoing support for boosting tourism in India. Tripathi said that he encouraged his kids to go to different parts of the nation.

In response to a query on a possible trip to Ayodhya for the consecration ceremony, Tripathi said that he had not been invited and expressed worries about the crowded circumstances at the moment. He did, however, say he hoped to take his family to the Ram temple later. Remarkably, Tripathi is not one of the celebs invited to the January 22 formal consecration ceremony.

In a related move, Main Atal Hoon’s producers and director, Rajiv Jadhav and Vinod Bhanushali, announced that they will not be filming in or traveling to the Maldives. January 19 is the intended release date for the film.

The unanticipated travel boycott exposes the influence of social and political opinions on travel decisions and the possible fallout for well-known foreign holiday locations that rely on Indian tourism.