Cancel culture is a problem, isn’t it? Many of you certainly think so, especially now that every little thing has been politically correct and everyone is calling everyone out for something they said. But here’s the kicker. Nobody actually gets cancelled. Loius CK has a new show coming up and 80% of the Indian comedy scene continues to live on despite being agonisingly classist and casteist. And then there are our millionaire movie stars.
1. Randeep Hooda’s derogatory remarks against Mayawati might have caused an uproar on social media but it hasn’t made a lick of difference to his career.
The actor’s statement was in line with Indian comics and actors often cracking jokes at the expense of Dalit Bahujan women, often with no consequences or any opposition.
2. Salman Khan, during the promotion of his film Sultan, compared the experience of shooting the movie to a woman being raped.
When I used to walk out of that ring, it used to be actually like a raped woman walking out.
-Salman Khan
While the actor received a lot of flak for it, it did little to upset the roaring success of his film. Salman never apologised for the statement either. It was his father, who went on Twitter to issue a clarification.
Undoubtedly what Salman said is wrong, the simili, example and the context. The intention was not wrong.
-Salim Khan
3. Everybody’s idea of the perfect husband, Ranveer Singh had once gone on Koffee With Karan and said that he had gone from being a boy to a man while talking about Kareena Kapoor in a swimsuit.
In the same episode, he had asked his co-star Anushka Sharma, whether she wanted her ‘a** pinched’. The actor would have faced much harsher criticism had the statement been today.
4. When Kartik Aaryan was asked about the choice of films he acts in, which let’s be honest are often women-bashing or misogynistic in nature, he simply compared himself to Ayushmann Khuranna.
It often happens that Ayushmann does films about men with defects while I do films about women with defects.
-Katrik Aryan
We wonder if anyone has had the opportunity to correct him yet.
5. Sanjay Dutt is quite proud of his family not allowing women to work in the film industry.
None of my sisters are in the movies, nor are my nieces going to be. That’s how Dutt ‘sahab,’ my dad, brought up the girls in the family, and I am just carrying his thought forward.
-Sanjay Dutt
Bollywood can’t let sexism come in way off a good biopic, can it?
6. Govinda had once admitted to flirting with his leading ladies to make them feel ‘comfortable’.
Yup, that has not been said with any irony, I am afraid. To make them comfortable during intimate scenes, Govinda thought it was prudent that he flirts with them. Because flirting is what generally makes everyone comfortable in a workplace environment.
7. Last year, Kangana Ranaut stayed in the news again when she said, India didn’t get independence in 1947 when the British left but in 2014.
Now, Ranaut is already banned on Twitter, so it’s not like much else was going to happen. Sure, some people criticised her on social media but as we might have noticed, all that logic can cause serious allergies in the actress.
8. Parineeti Chopra had once joined the legions of girlboss liberals who benefitted greatly from the feminist movement but were hesitant to say the F word.
I am very often confused to be a feminist but I am not. I am really not. Coming into Bollywood, I think definitely it has made me stronger and more responsible.
-Parineeti Chopra
9. Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan had once told a magazine that when rape was inevitable, you must lay down and enjoy.
Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. So much for that monologue from Pink and those letters to his grandchildren. Oh, well, maybe that’s just PR. What’s that, precious? Can’t say that? Kden.
10. Shah Rukh Khan once said he didn’t want to sound like a ‘pro-feminist’
I am still waiting for the why he didn’t want to sound like he was advocating for feminism.
I don’t want to sound pro-feminist and say that these girls have made a beautiful film yaar, but they really have.
-Shah Rukh Khan
11. Vijay Deverakonda once advocated for dictatorship and we finally realised why the script of Kabir Singh (Arjun Reddy) must have appealed to him
I don’t even think everyone should be allowed to vote because they don’t know who they’re voting for and why they’re voting. I would like to be a dictator if at all. I think that’s the way to go… I think somewhere, dictatorship is the right way, but you need to have a good guy.
-Vijay Deverakonda
12. Rani Mukherjee, Bollywood’s key feminist-esque figure in the 2000s has made some seriously tone-deaf statements regarding sexual harrament.
It’s important for women to believe in themselves and say that if they don’t want this to happen, then it’ll not happen.
-Rani Mukherjee
It’s been a few years so she might have finally realised that the lack of consent is a key ingredient in sexual harassment.
13. Even the mighty Kareena Kapoor was once terrified of being called a feminist.
I believe in equality. I wouldn’t say I am a feminist, I would say I am a woman and above all, I am a human being. I am also as proud to be known as Saif Ali Khan’s wife, as I am to be Kareena Kapoor. So that is just the way I am
-Kareena Kapoor
R Ashwin doesn’t spin sh*t compared to this statement.
14. Karan Johar once defended killing off a female character because he believed she had rejected the man and hence…
The last track met with many polarised responses and rightfully so, but I was like she (Anushka Sharma in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil) didn’t love him, she has to die. I wrote this character. He loved her so crazily. She could’ve loved him back, why couldn’t she? So she got cancer and she died.
Wow. That is 9 kinds of f***ed up.
Oh, come on now, guys. You have seen the films we make, we have been making for the last many many decades. Why are you still suprised?