To speak or not to speak: Is it a doubleedged sword for showbiz celebrities?
Ahost of celebs from the entertainment industry have been banding together recently, demanding a CBI enquiry into actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. Actors Kriti Sanon, Parineeti Chopra, Mouni Roy are a few. Actor Varun Dhawan also shared an Instagram story that read ‘#CBIforSSR’. Triggered by this, trolls questioned why this came two months after Rajput’s death. Some even speculated whether Dhawan did this on seeing the number of dislikes on Alia Bhatt’s Sadak 2 trailer.
This leads us to the question: Is speaking up a double-edged sword for celebs? Are they bound to get trolled whether they speak or not? Actor Nakuul Mehta, who feels that everybody on social media is
out to prove a point, says, “In the midst of this chaos, sharing your thoughts, especially if you are an artiste, can be a doubleedged sword. Personally, I have almost never shied away from speaking what I feel...”
While the Supreme Court has reserved its decision, CBI is investigating the FIR registered in Bihar, lawyer Ishkaran Singh Bhandari informs us. On celebs speaking up now, he says, “They didn’t speak in the beginning; only Kangana Ranaut did. Now,
seeing the public demanding it, obviously they’ll speak.”
Agreeing that celebs get targeted regardless of whether they are vocal or not, actor Iqbal Khan says, “People on social media become judge, jury, punisher... They get a kick in abusing somebody without knowing them.”
Meanwhile, adman Prahlad Kakkar says, “These people, Dhawan and all, ditched young Sushant. When you come out and start doing a double header — first not approving of the guy, then asking CBI for SSR — isn’t it better to keep quiet?”
Producer Pritish Nandy says it’s up to the person if they want to involve themselves in a particular controversy or not. “They may choose not to. It’s not because they don’t have any sympathy, or they don’t want [justice]...,” he says. And filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri feels, “Problem is they always speak in an opportunistic manner. When they are supposed to, they don’t.”