Bollywood’s Deepika Padukone’s JNU Visit Backfires, Chhapaak Might Take The Fall

After we see Bollywood showing their strength at Carter Road, Mumbai Deepika Padukone went to Jawaharlal Nehru University to express solidarity with faculty and students on Tuesday which many claims are just a PR tactic.

The actress was in Delhi to promote her film Chhapaak and later joins the protests at JNU against the violence that happened on campus on Sunday evening. She also meets Aishe Ghosh who is the injured president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union(JNUSU).

This gesture from a Bollywood star like her received significant attention considering Bollywood’s usual way of not taking a stance at all in light of protests held against Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) or National Register of Citizens(NRC).

It begins with actress Sayani Gupta calling out the “selfie gang” on social media to issue statements. Alia Bhatt, Parineeti Chopra, Swara Bhaskar, Richa Chadha, Kokona Sen Sharma, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapur, Huma Qureshi, Tapsee Pannu, and many from Bollywood are raising their voices against violence for an India that is secular and syncretic.

But this has backfired on Deepika as many claimed she did so for mere promotion. Deepika’s gesture being criticised heavily online for making a serious issue a part of a film promotion drive. These backlashes include a new protest online asking everyone to not watch her upcoming movie Chhapaak.

#boycottchhapaak is the second most trending topic in a twitter right now with around 458K tweets with people posting screenshots of booking cancellations for the movie. Many even resorted to talking ill about Ranveer Singh as he is Deepika’s husband or blocking and unfollowing her on twitter. Some even blame the movie for changing the name of the acid attack criminal from a Muslim name to a Hindu one to protect Muslims.

On the other hand, she also has support from many like Anurag Kashyap who said that’Women are Stronger beings’ and asking followers to prove him right by booking more tickets for the movie Chhapaak and by supporting people like her. She even receives support from Swara Bhaskar and Anubhav Sinha.