Actor Ranbir Kapoor has always been in the news since the time he debuted in Bollywood with Saawariya; mostly for his relationships, but also for his movies which have not really fared well lately.
Recently, for a promotional interview on a radio show for his movie Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, the gorgeous lad made some remarks about filming intimate scenes with actress Aishwarya Rai that had raised numerous eyebrows as some had opined that the announcement was disregarding. Ranbir has now elucidated his stand saying that he can’t affront Aishwarya ever.
Ranbir said in a radio interview that he felt timid, to such an extent that his hands used to shudder and he was reluctant to try and touch her cheeks and Aishwarya asked him to do it properly, reminding him that they were acting at the end of the day. “Tabhi maine socha, kabhi aisa mauka milega nahi, so maine bhi mauke pe chauka maar diya!” he said.
Now he has said that his remarks on the radio interview have been taken “in bad taste”. “Aishwarya is such a superb actor and also a family friend. She’s one of India’s most talented and respected women. I will be forever grateful to her for her contribution to Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. I could not have disrespected her like that!” he said.
He says that he is hurt about how a candid conversation has been blown out of context and sensationalised into headlines and stories.
Salman Khan too, was recently put under the scanner when he said, “While shooting, during those six hours, there’d be so much of lifting and thrusting on the ground involved. That was tough for me because if I was lifting, I’d have to lift the same 120-kilo guy 10 times for 10 different angles. And likewise, get thrown that many times on the ground. This act is not repeated that many times in the real fights in the ring. When I used to walk out of the ring, after the shoot, I used to feel like a raped woman. I couldn’t walk straight.”
Shahrukh Khan received severe backlash when he asked a woman to sit down while he reads out his poem. “Please sit! This may be politically incorrect, but actually when I speak to a woman, I’d like her to be lying down”, he said.
And how can we forget when Tiger Shroff said that he would marry a village girl because she will make food for him after he reaches home after a hard day at work.
Do you now see what I am getting at?
What the actors think is not the problem, but what comes out of their mouth is. The fact that they do not even realise that they are people’s role models and that billions are listening to them just adds up to the whole issue.
While the women in Bollywood are trying to use their speech as a means to counter the problems of wage inequality, casual attitude towards depression; the men in Bollywood seem to be on an entirely different page.
Bollywood has worked as a major source of ideological formation in India. Even though Ranbir’s comment was innocent, but his choice of words was certainly not the best he could do. “Mauke pe chauka maar diya” is a very derogatory phrase for a woman. When you are an actor, the masses follow each and every move that you make.
This does not mean that actors do not have the freedom of speech. But, the onus of choosing their words carefully is onto them. They are responsible for a lot of people who look up to Bollywood actors and constantly rely on their opinions to form theirs.
Time to use what our elders taught us, maybe? “Think before you speak”.
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