Even as Punjabi star Diljit Dosanjh took on Kangana Ranaut after she misidentified an elderly woman protester as ‘Shaheen Bagh dadi’ Bilkis Bano and claimed that she can be hired for ‘100 rupees’, Twitter claimed that it took a Punjabi star to take a stand while Bollywood preferred to stay mum during these past tumultuous months. Actors like Taapsee Pannu and Swara Bhaskar have reacted to the charge.
“Tragic state of Bollywood – even after so much abuse & slander they kept mum on Kangana. Finally a Punjabi Singer / Actor had to deal with the guttermouth; reveals just how hollow, impotent & supine Bollywood has become. Not being able to stand up for the nation – or for itself. Not being able to stand up for the nation – or for itself,” a person wrote on Twitter, pointing to the combative tweets by Kangana over the months at the expense of top Bollywood personalities.
He also retweeted another comment, “#KangnaRanaut has been calling names and mudslinging hindi film industry for months now. She has taken names of top stars producers directors and called them druggies, molesters and what not. No one spoke @diljitdosanjh has taken this bully by the horns. BRAVO SHER-PUTAR.”
Actors Swara Bhasker and Taapsee Pannu, who had been embroiled in an off-and-on spat with Kangana after she targeted them during an interview, responded to the charge. “Not everyone kept mum,” wrote Swara as she tagged Taapsee Pannu and Richa Chaddha.
Taapsee, in turn, wrote, “That’s always been the problem here. Hum kuch mayeno mein “outsiders” hi rahenge na 🙂 #AProudOutsider.” Swara and Taapsee were among those in Bollywood who came out in Diljit’s support as exchange between him and Kangana became vitriolic. Kangana, misidentified a woman farmer from Punjab as Bilkis Bano, the octogenarian who made international headlines during the anti-CAA protests earlier this year in the Delhi neighbourhood of Shaheen Bagh. She shared a tweet alleging that the ‘Shaheen Bagh dadi’ also joined the farmers’ agitation over the new agri laws at various border points of the national capital.
She retweeted the post with pictures of two elderly women, including Bilkis Bano, and wrote that the “same Dadi” who featured in Time Magazine was “available in 100 rupees”. Diljit shared a BBC interview of the woman who Kangana had wrongly identified as Mahinder Kaur.
