The latest to offer support to actor Hrithik Roshan is fellow actor-director Farhan Akhtar. Through a social media post on Sunday, Akhtar pointed out several inconsistencies in Kangana Ranaut’s claims and said that the media’s biased treatment of the whole issue was unfair.
Also quick to offer opinion was Yami Gautam. Incidentally, both these actors chose not to name those involved. Akhtar offered his comments about a ‘man’ he knew and a woman he knew ‘professionally at best’. While Yami talked about two of the biggest stars in the industry, one of whom she’d professionally worked with. Kaabil, anyone?
Akhtar said that he spoke up in the spirit of objectivity and fairness. But, in a case such as this, peppered with allegations, rumours and hearsay, it is hard to be objective, much less take sides. And yet, this controversy has done just that. Battle lines have been drawn; mudslinging has been done with.
At this point, there’s not much credibility to Kangana’s tales of a romantic relationship with Hrithik, or the actor’s consistent denials of said relationship. The subsequent legal battle (initiated by Hrithik) provided more fodder – there were allegations that Ranaut indulged in black magic and that she was unstable.
Roshan, though, escaped somewhat unscathed. With Cyber Crime failing to find any evidence, the whole issue was put to rest. Or so we thought.
Around the time of Simran’s release, Ranaut saw fit to dredge up the affair once again. The actress was accused of using her personal life to promote her films. The jury’s still out on that one, but with the kind of allegations she made, she definitely won the sympathy vote. At least for a short while.
Roshan, who had kept his silence through out this sordid affair, finally spoke out on the issue and said that he was doing so because it was unfair to judge him based on the claims of one woman. And that to do so, would mean the collapse of society as we know it.
Children will be affected, Roshan said.
Almost immediately, there was a swift change in public perception, and people rushed to offer their support to Roshan, a big star in his own right.
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But through all this, we failed to pay heed to the fact that there was no evidence of said affair. And also, no evidence that it did not happen. All we know is that amidst all the speculation and mudslinging, the only reason this issue seems to have garnered so much attention is due to the star power of these two actors, and the voyeuristic pleasure that comes from being a spectator to the intimate details of the stars.
The fact that this issue has played out on social media and over-hyped television interviews indicates a desire to try the controversy through media, and not through other, more sensible routes.
Relationship or no, the stars owe it to themselves and their fans to sort this out in private.
And, affairs do happen – as terrible as that might sound to the culture-sensitive ear.
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