Social media outrage has been building up against Bollywood's biggest stars for their alleged silence on the ongoing protests and violence that has erupted in various parts of the country, following the passing of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act by the Indian parliament.
However, after some members of the Indian film fraternity expressed their concern over the devastating bushfires in Australia, the online anger got aggravated and anointed #ShameonBollywood and #Bollywoodwakeup as top trends on Twitter earlier this week.
When mainstream actors like Alia Bhatt, Diya Mirza and Shilpa Shetty voiced their concern over the immense loss of wildlife due to blazing bushfires in New South Wales, they were heavily trolled for speaking out on an issue affecting "another part of the world", while their own country was “burning in communal hatred.”
While others urged Bollywood stars to 'wake up'.
The celebrities are not only drawing flak from their fans, but some members of their own fraternity are also urging them to speak out on the law, known as the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Recently, filmmaker and producer Pooja Bhatt put out a stinging tweet for members of the Indian film industry, imploring them to speak up to “curtail the violence unfolding in the nation.”
Social media influencer and celebrity manager, Param Singh Pasricha said the public outrage was “justifiable.”
“We Indians love our film stars and often venerate the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. So it is only natural for cinema lovers to expect a solid stand from their icons on important national issues such as the CAA.
“Last year when Hollywood actor Meryl Streep took a swipe at Donald Trump at the Golden Globes, it left many Indians wondering why our Indian celebrities do not speak out when needed,” Mr Pasricha told SBS Punjabi.
He added that the reason for the most film starts not speaking out is that reactions can be swift and often severe in India.
“While Meryl Streep can sleep peacefully after speaking her mind or taking a political stand, Deepika Padukone who recently came out in support of the JNU students after the violent attack was severely berated by a section of social media users.”
“This has also happened in the past with the likes of Amir Khan when he said that his wife wonders if they should leave the country owing to the growing communal intolerance," said Mr Pasricha.
