Not the best of days for Bollywood.
After Priyanka Chopra, actor Sonam Kapoor has landed in the line of fire for her comments on Kashmir, Pakistan and patriotism.
After India revoked Article 370 which granted special status to Indian occupied Kashmir, tensions between the two neighbouring countries have reached an all-time high.
In a recent interview with BBC Asian Network, Sonam had said, “It’s heartbreaking to see where the situation has landed right now but I’m very patriotic. So I think for me now it’s better to keep quiet and let this pass because even this too should pass. Our countries were one country like 70 years ago and the fact that there is so much divisive politics at play is really heartbreaking.”
Sonam continued that she is very upset about the ban on Bollywood in Pakistan because “as an artist, you want to be represented everywhere and you want your work to be shown everywhere,” adding that she was heartbroken when her film Neerja wasn’t allowed to be screened in Pakistan.
Speaking about Kashmir, Sonam said, “I think it’s very complicated and I don’t understand it as much because there is so much contrasting news everywhere so I don’t really know what the truth is.”
“I believe in having a peaceful discourse and understanding what’s going on. So when I have the complete information is when I think I can give an opinion.”
Sonam’s comments irked people on both sides of the border. While Pakistanis called her out for not seeing beyond her nationalism, Indians called her a traitor for wanting her films to be screened in Pakistan and talking about her Pakistani roots.
“I am half Sindhi and half Peshawari. It’s heartbreaking to see that part of my culture is something that I can’t explore as well because of that,” Sonam had said.
As the situation continued to boil, Sonam took to Twitter and asked everyone to calm down and “get a life.”
Regardless, the trolling on Sonam’s status continued.
Even Shaan couldn’t resist passing a comment.
