On 8 January, actor Deepika Padukone made history when she surprised everyone by joining the protest rally at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Dressed in a black turtleneck, standing behind the JNU Student Union President Aishe Ghosh, Deepika’s appearance at the rally comes at a time when there is much at stake for her. Her maiden production, Chhapaak, is slated to release on 10 January. And knowing this country’s history of boycotting films for the littlest things, she pretty much walked into the situation knowing very well the consequences she would have to face.
But even then, there are many who can’t help but don their cynic hats. There’s been some Twitter chatter about how Deepika is conveniently co-opting protests led by courageous students of the country. I wouldn’t say that’s entirely...untrue. She remained painfully silent when the students of Jamia were brutalised by the police, or when UP police inflicted unspeakable tragedies on its citizens, or when Kashmir was first put under, what seems like, an indefinite communication blackout at this point.
Deepika’s privilege has allowed her to *choose* her moment to step out and take a visible stand. And for that, your rage is justifiable. But to take that rage and project it against what she’s doing now seems slightly unfair to me. After all, Deepika is no stranger to ridiculous controversies that frequently befall Bollywood biggies (remember Padmaavat?)
Unsurprisingly, soon after Deepika’s appearance at the JNU protest rally, where the Chhapaak actor was seen folding her hands and meeting Aishe Ghosh, #BoycottBollywood started trending. The boycott was called by BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga. As many users criticised Deepika for her actions, another section of the internet continued to praise her.
One user wrote, “If this is how someone promotes films, for the first time, I may actually be influenced.”
Right? Isn’t this better than Akshay Kumar and Diljit Dosanjh sitting in a pram and being pushed around by the leading ladies of Good Newwz?
Speaking of Akshay Kumar, here’s a piece of advice for 2020.
But the real question is this - why would Deepika physically step out on the streets of Delhi when she could just get a room of full of people to tweet for her?
Bhakts can boycott Bollywood, but can the government do the same?
For those of you who support Deepika but still feel skeptical about her intentions, here’s something:
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