Randeep Hooda shares cryptic post after being called out for 'casteist joke' on Mayawati

Actor Randeep Hooda has been criticized for an old video of him making casteist and sexist jokes against former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati. The video which resurfaced online showed the actor attending a talk show and making the joke that was deemed inappropriate by social media users. Since then, the actor has not made any direct statements on the matter but shared a cryptic post on Instagram. 

On May 26, 2021, Randeep Hooda posted a picture of a tiger roaming in the wilderness of Rajasthan. The animal was seen exploring in some foliage. To go with the image, Randeep wrote a famous dialogue from the movie Jungle Book which was delivered by the character Sher Khan, "No matter how fast you run, no matter where you hide, I will catch you." According to the post, the image was captured by wildlife photographer Sarosh Lodhi. 

Randeep Hooda shares a cryptic post with Sher Khan dialogue amid Mayawati controversy

Randeep's fans loved the post by the actor. Many showered his post with blessings and others dropped heart emojis. The actor received a comment from another wildlife photographer Shivang Mehta who found the picture vibrant. Randeep's fans too like the colours that popped from the image. One fan called Randeep Hooda a "sher" which means "Tiger" in Hindi. 

On May 25, 2021, a Twitter user named Srishty Ranjan posted the video of Randeep Hooda passing jokes on Mayawati while attending a talk show. The user claimed that the joke passed by Hooda was "casteist and sexist, especially towards Dalit women." They also claimed that the actor should not have passed crass comments against the leader "who has been the voice of the oppressed". Many Twitter users reprimanded Hooda for his words and asked him to apologise publicly. 

Randeep Hooda's old video making jokes on Mayawati surfaces online

On the professional front, Hooda made his acting debut in Hollywood in 2020's Extraction next to Thor fame actor Chris Hemsworth. In the same year, he was also seen in a pivotal role in Love Aaj Kal as Raj or Raghuvendra Singh. Currently, he's filming for his upcoming movie Unfair & Lovely next to The Big Bull actor Ileana D'Cruz. 

• Image: Randeep Hooda's Instagram