Mahira Khan Breaks Silence Over Leaked Photos With Ranbir Kapoor

‘I was completely shattered and broken,’ says Mahira Khan.

Earlier this year, leaked pictures of Pakistani actress Mahira Khan smoking with Ranbir Kapoor in New York went viral and the internet exploded. Apart from stirring up rumours about a possible affair, a torrent of crude judgments were unleashed on Mahira on social media. She was mercilessly trolled for ‘wearing a short dress’ and ‘smoking.’ Puritanical trolls attributed their fury to Mahira being a ‘Muslim woman’. She has finally decided to not keep mum about the controversy.

In an interview to the magazine Something Haute, she says, “I'm a very strong woman but when all of this happened, I was completely shattered and broken. I would think about posting a statement every day. Then I would stop myself because I just wouldn't know what to say.”

Mahira adds that she did in fact address the issue earlier in her own way. When the new rap song Power Di Game from her impending film, Verna released last month, she posted it on Twitter as a reply to her trolls. In an attempt to deconstruct the hullabaloo, she ascribes the strong reactions to ‘disappointment’ of her fans. "It's the same disappointment that my nani or my mamoo would have felt seeing that. So even now when I meet an older lady who says that she didn't like the pictures, I'm quick to apologise," she elaborates.

This does not mean that Mahira is remorseful about her celebrityhood. She is aware of the predicaments that accompany it. She is self-assured of her standing as a good role model and the part that she plays in shaping the progressive sensibilities of people in Pakistan.

“I am a role model but I’m not the perfect role model. I am human, I make mistakes. And I was really happy to see that there were so many people who stood up for me. It goes to show that the narrative in Pakistan is changing, and if nothing else, I’m happy to have been part of that narrative.”

Mahira Khan, Actor

Ranbir Kapoor stood by her and had released a statement then censuring the trolls, “I've gotten to know Mahira 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. PS: Both smoking and hate are injurious to health."

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