Ranbir Kapoor has issued a clarification after pictures of him smoking with Raees actress, Mahira Khan, sparked not only relationship rumours but also got the actress trolled for 'smoking' and wearing a 'backless' dress.
Not a particularly new phenomena as social media trolls are notorious for sheltering regressive thoughts about what women should and shouldn't do.
Here are a few gems:
Many also commented saying, 'how could a woman and that too a mother of a son do this?,' statements that reflected their own fractured worldview.
The film industry jumped to Mahira's defence. From Parineeti Chopra to Ali Zaffar, several actors condemned the vitriol unleashed onto the actress. This is the note Ali Zaffar put up on his Instagram feed.
Multiple online publications also ran stories about a possible romance as this was the second time the two actors were seen in a foreign destination together (the fact that it's a little tricky for Mahira to travel to India gave credence to the idea that the duo must be surreptitiously meeting abroad).
In the past, a video of the two actors, in what seemed like a hotel corridor, had gone viral.
In a well-worded statement issued to the media, Kapoor called out the trolls for unfairly judging Khan, while admitting that he has become friends with her over the past few months.
"I've gotten to know Mahirah in a personal capacity over the last few months. She is somebody who I admire and respect, for her achievements and even more for the person she is. It is very unfair the way she is being judged and spoken about. What is also sad is the inequality in judgment just because she is a woman. I request you to stop the negativity and move on with your beautiful god gifted lives. Peace and love."
- RANBIR KAPOOR
He added:
PS - Both smoking and hate are injurious to health.
In an interview to Hindustan Times, Rishi Kapoor said, "Ranbir is a young star, he is unmarried, he's a bachelor. He can meet anybody whoever he wants to, and if people are going to invade in his privacy, it's not done. And I can't say anything about all this because he's a young man and he has the choice of meeting any girl."
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