Published 16:11 IST, July 13th 2020
'This has to stop': Pooja Bhatt slams 'miserable souls' online, says ignoring not enough
Pooja Bhatt slammed 'miserable souls' online and emphasised that ignoring them was not enough, and that it was important to report or block their abusive behavi
Outrage against the stars of film families has perhaps reduced to an extent in the last few days, but fact remains that star kids have been at the receiving end of vicious trolling in the aftermath of Sushant Singh Rajput's death. Celebrities of the Bhatt family have been among those to have been subjected to abuse. While Mahesh Bhatt and Alia Bhatt have maintained silence, Pooja Bhatt has been hitting out at the trolls.
In her latest statement, Pooja Bhatt sent a stern message to the trolls and wrote that it was not enough to merely ignore them. The actor-filmmaker wrote that ‘muting’ aggressive, abusive behaviour was not the solution and that it was important to report and block ‘abusive behaviour’ towards everyone. She compared it to how one chooses whom to let into their homes, and in the same way, one should not allow their social media handles to be ‘inundated by motivated/misguided/inherently miserable souls.’
The Zakhm star also wrote that criticism was one thing and abuse another, but ignoring the latter seemed to ‘fuel those unleashing it to target more people.’ Pooja called for the trolling ‘to stop.’ She added that one can ‘agree to disagree’, but having a platform on social media did not give them ‘the right to make threats & hurl abuse.’
Here are the tweets
As a netizen pointed out that people having the power to criticise was not wrong, but targetted attacks were the problem, Pooja stated that criticism was not ‘power' in the same way praise was not and both had to be taken with a pinch of salt.
She also agreed with a netizen on trolls being like a 'virus' and compared it to the COVID-19 situation by highlighting the importance to wash hands, wear a mask, sanitisation and maintaining social distancing.
Pooja also stated that she was ‘not worried’ about the 'chamchaaas', in response to a netizen's comment, while highlighting that one should take action against the abuse. Asking whether it was ‘social media or anti-social media’, she termed the trolls as ‘Motivated, misguided or inherently miserable people’ for targeting those they don’t have access to and added that ignoring them ‘fuels their frustration & makes them direct the hate elsewhere.’
Earlier, Pooja had shared a pic from ‘90s to state that she has always been in ‘hot water’ and was unfazed by criticism. Alia, however, has turned off her comments on Instagram, due to the abuse, while her mother Soni Razdan too had vented out about having to do so while slamming the trolls.
Meanwhile, on the professional front, the family banner’s Sadak 2 is soon gearing up for release on Disney+Hotstar. The film has been directed by Mahesh Bhatt, and apart from Alia and Pooja, also stars Sanjay Dutt and Aditya Roy Kapur.
Updated 16:11 IST, July 13th 2020