Janta maaf nahi karegi

Mumbai: Be it Rahul Gandhi, Aamir Khan or more recently Sonam Kapoor none of them have been spared for having their foot-in-mouth moments recently. From viral memes and spoof videos to scathing remarks on Twitter, audiences are mincing no words while trolling these celebs. 

 

 

The most recent victim to fall prey was Sonam Kapoor. The actress’ comments on “ordinary-looking people being considered good actors” among other things on Karan Johar’s couch, have invited a barrage of memes and the ‘selfie song’. Her cousin and actor Arjun Kapoor however feels that the audience may have been a bit harsh while judging her.

 

He says, “Everybody has an opinion. Sonam too. You don’t need to agree with everything she says, but you don’t need to give her flak either. You can disagree, rather than hating somebody and making spoofs on them. I’m sure there are a lot of people doing a lot of worse things other than simply giving their point of view, so why target Sonam? It’s a free world and I think it’s worse not to have an opinion at all. At least she has the guts to state things the way they are.”

 

Gangs of Ghosts actress Meera Chopra feels that sometimes viewers forget than it’s only human to err. She says, “It’s ridiculous to expect celebrities to be perfect all the time. Everyone has bad days and maybe they say something that they don’t even mean. People don’t realise how much negative comments and pulling someone down can affect a person’s confidence and self-esteem.”

 

Vinit Phadke, a social media executive, believes that given the age we live in, it’s impossible to escape such scrutiny. “Being famous has always had a flip side and as technology advances, the price is only going to get heavier. Besides, most of them are made in good taste. It’s light-hearted and not defamatory. This way the audience gets a chance to drive home a point and even the celeb learns to act responsible.”

 

Actor Gulshan Grover agrees as he says that it’s not always the viewers who are to be blamed celebrities too should be careful about what they say and how they behave. He says, “While I agree that celebrities are soft targets, in a way they are inviting reactions (not necessarily negative ones). It is important to be on your guard.”