After the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, a lot of ‘star kids’ are facing major criticism on the subject nepotism. Actress Sonakshi Sinha, the daughter of Bollywood legend Shatrughan Sinha, has also faced the same backlash for which she deleted her Twitter.
Talking to Hindustan Times, Sonakshi gave everyone a piece of her mind as she spoke in black and white on the nepotism case. “What are you abusing me for? Being an actor or being born to a particular set of parents?” Sinha has also started a campaign called ‘AbBas’ which is an initiative to stop cyberbullying and harassment.
As the conversation inched into the whole nepotism in Bollywood debate, Sonakshi had a lot to say. “The word nepotism isn’t only limited to the film industry. Today, a businessman will hand over his business to his son, and not to a random person based on merit. I find it so amusing that this word nepotism has been introduced and sensationalized by a person whose sister is managing their work. And I don’t think I really want to give it that much more importance.
They saw me, thought I’ll fit the role, and I was offered the film. After that, I had to work very hard. I’ve always been very punctual. I have very good work ethics and the audience accepted me. These are the four things that have helped me sustain a career for ten years right now.”
Talking about AbBas, Sonakshi says, “You see people have been at home for five months now, and there’s a lot of frustration that’s coming out on the internet. So, it seems like a very gradual buildup of hatred and negativity online. That’s really what kind of drove me to do this. I firmly believe that if something can’t be said to someone’s face, because there’ll consequences — people need to know there are consequences even if you say it online.”
After deactivating her Twitter account for about 2 months now, Sonakshi says her life has changed for better and that she had no plans of coming back.
“Twitter has become such a playing ground for negativity with people going on and on about anything and everything and in such a gutsy manner. It’s not something I’d want in my life, anyway. My life has changed for the better, it’s much cleaner, so I have no complaints. And I’ve also put my comments off on Instagram.”
Sonakshi also says that she feels sad about how so many of her fans she has cut off. She states, “Social media, for me, has always been a way to connect with my fans. And I’ve always put out the things that I want to share with the world. But there’s so much of uninvited negativity. I’m really okay without that. However, I feel sad because so many of my fans have been cut off, there’s no interaction anymore with them, but I’ve to safeguard myself, too. Today, I’d want to tell young people, all young boys and girl, who’re impressionable, that your life is not successful because of the number of likes, followers and the validation that you get on the internet.”
Sonakshi also has a film coming up soon titled ‘Bhuj: The Pride of India’. On being asked if she was scared of facing backlash, Sinha replied saying, “It’s a film about the 1971 war, glorifying the role of a very brave Indian. If people decide to boycott a film like that, that says a lot about them, and not really the film. And you may like or not like something, but why are you asking others to hate something you don’t like? That, I don’t understand. I’m very proud of being a part of the film like this, and I’m sure people will love it because it’s a story about India that needs to be told.”