Bollywood actress Hema Malini hits out at politician’s comment referring to her cheeks
Shiv Sena leader Gulabrao Patil had made the comment during an election rally
Actress and politician Hema Malini has called out a minister from Maharashtra for his comment referring to her in a way that she deemed distasteful.
During an election rally, water supply and sanitation minister and Shiv Sena leader Gulabrao Patil made the comment while talking about the conditions of the roads in his constituency in the Jalgaon district.
“My challenge is for the person who has been an MLA for 30 years to come to my constituency and see the roads. If the roads are not like Hema Malini’s cheeks, then I will resign,” Patil said.
While speaking to news agency ANI, BJP MP Malini shared her thoughts about the comparison.
“Better I keep my cheeks safely,” she said. “A trend of such statements was started by Lalu Ji years ago and many people have followed this trend. This should not be done. Such comments are not in a good taste. Any woman should not be used to making such comments.”
Malini, 73, was referring to former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s comment over a decade ago saying that the roads in his state would be “as smooth as Hema Malini’s cheeks”.
Patil was criticised for his comment about Malini and has since apologised.
“My intention was to highlight the good roads in my constituency. However, my statement was misunderstood. If my statement has hurt anyone, I would like to apologise…,” he said in a video.
During her decades-long Bollywood career Malini has starred in movies such as ‘Dream Girl’, ‘Sholay’ and ‘Satte Pe Satta’. Her most recent movie was 2020’s romantic drama ‘Shimla Mirchi’, also starring Rajkummar Rao and Rakul Preet Singh.