Bollywood boycotts are hardly new on social media but the current outcry plants Kareena Kapoor Khan in the centre of a Twitter storm.
On Saturday, #BoycottKareenaKhan was picking up steam in India with several taking to the micro-blogging site calling out the Bollywood actress for reportedly charging Rs120 million to play Sita in a film based on the Indian epic, ‘Ramayan’.
Several others also took objection to the fact that she was being considered for the role of Sita, who was the wife of the Hindu deity Ram, while being married to a person of a different religion in real life; Kapoor Khan is married to Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan and the couple are parents to two children.
Twitter user Arpita Chatterjeep posted: “Kareena Kapoor Khan to charge a whopping amount for the role of Sita. #BoycottKareenaKhan And we should also #BoycottTheProducer and the director of the film who plan her for the role of “Mata Sita” [Mother Sita]. Why people from different religion will play such characters!!”
Sourav Jha wrote: “Bollywood can only play with our emotions, nothing else. So be careful. #BoycottBollywood #BoycottKareenaKhan.”
Ashutosh Dubey posted: “#BoycottKareenaKhan because RT if you also think #KanganaRanaut can play the role of Mata Sita in a better way than Kareena Khan! Support This!”
Meanwhile, Gaurav Goel, who claims to be the state spokesperson for an Indian political party, also wrote: “Timur was the invader and was from Afganistan. #BoycottKareenaKhan.”
The ‘Timur’ is his tweet is in reference to Kapoor Khan’s first born son, Taimur Ali Khan who is four years old. Goel’s tweet is referring to the outcry that followed after the birth of Taimur with several people in India objecting to the child’s name and issuing death threats against him and his famous parents.
User Sonika Sharma also took objection to Kapoor Khan marrying Khan, who divorced his first wife, Amrita Singh. “A lady who married to a person who left his wife... How can she play the role of our Sita maa???? Never acceptable.”
The brouhaha erupted after news broke last week the Kapoor Khan was in the running to play Sita, who is a revered figure in India. Interestingly, news of her playing the character on screen has already been refuted by the writer of the film who is penning the retelling.
Entertainment portal Spotboye asked writer K Vijayendra Prasad about Kapoor Khan being considerd for the new project, which is being directed by Alaukik Desai, and his response was: “No, no, no.”
Citing another source close to the project, the portal added: “Kareena is not suited to the part at all. It must have suited some marketing brains somewhere to suggest she’s playing Sita as her husband is playing Ravan in another project. Also, the hefty fee that she is supposed to have asked for a role that she has not been offered, sounds impressive but far-fetched in this day and age of an economic recession.”
Kapoor Khan’s husband is essaying the role of Ravan, the demon king who kidnaps Sita, for the upcoming Bollywood film ‘Adipurush’.
