Is fame a double-edged sword for celebrities?
The Virushka vs guy-throwing-garbage debate has been picking up pace on social media for the past few days. Arhhan Singh (once a child actor in TV show Dekh Bhai Dekh and Shah Rukh Khan-starrer English Babu Desi Mem; 1996), was reprimanded by Anushka Sharma for allegedly throwing a piece of plastic on the road, while husband Virat Kohli shot the video and posted it on his Instagram account. Interestingly, Anushka was nominated as an ambassador for PM Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan campaign last year.
While people have been appreciative of them being morally responsible citizens, some have commented saying the celebrity couple could have dealt with Arhhan politely.
This raises a question about where celebrity vigilantism stands in our country and whether fame is a double-edged sword. Union Minister of State Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju supported Anushka and Virat’s stand by tweeting “C’mon, Virat & Anushka need publicity!! They would rather crave for privacy!! Our conduct reflects our mentality. Civic sense is social ethics and ethical behaviour doesn’t come with wealth & education.” Producer Pritish Nandy says, “I feel Anushka saw something wrong happening, and this was her instinctive reaction.”
Social media, being true to its character, was quick to make memes and call out the couple for bullying. One user, varun.skywalker commented on Virat’s Instagram video, “So both of you do this??right to expose a person in front of social media...???you know what both of you have h millions of followers”.
Director Onir feels, “There are two sides to every story. Celebrity vigilantism works positively because people get inspired and the message is conveyed to more people.”
Actor Richa Chadha, who has always spoken her mind, says, “It’s a catch-22 situation. Everyone laments that film stars don’t take a stand, and when they do, they get abused and trolled. I also feel had it been Virat reprimanding the littering men, the trolling wouldn’t be to this degree.”
As for the trolling that Virushka have had to face, ad guru Prahlad Kakkar says, “It doesn’t matter whether the whistle-blower is a celebrity or a responsible citizen, they just want to do something good for the country. The backlash can be anything, but for me, the trolls are worse than scum, because they do it anonymously.”
We reached out to Anushka for a comment, but she didn’t want to comment.