‘Former’ Bollywood actor Fardeen Khan is the current cynosure. Thanks to social media birds, he is being talked about because of all reasons his bulges. Latest pictures of the once-dashing actor are splashed all over.
He is at the receiving end for gaining weight. He is in today’s term being trolled. Well, Fardeen joins the long list of celebrities whose existence strikes us after ages thanks to Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp and other forms of social media.
By the way, how many of us knew Angoorlata Deka? The actress-turned- BJP MLA from Assam has become a national sensation courtesy pictures of her modeling days doing the rounds. One bets, even top film journalists didn’t have much clue about her presence before her looks became the talk of the town.
Veteran actor Alok Nath made a comeback when jokes on him were forwarded on Whatsapp. If these are forgotten names, then the latest heartthrobs are not to be spared either. Salman Khan’s Sultan co-star Anushka Sharma jolly well knows what being trolled is all about. Her contemporaries Parineeta Chopra and Sonakshi Sinha too have faced the heat. Recently, Aishwarya Rai grabbed more headlines for her purple lips than her gracious presence at Cannes. Over the years, there are examples galore: Rajnikanth, MS Dhoni, Ishant Sharma, Virat Kohli, Abhishek Bachchan, the list is endless. And not to forget political leaders and businessmen who often are being ridiculed on various social platforms.
You just need a pretext and immediately, even renowned personalities become the butt of all jokes. This brings us to the ever-debatable subject whether social media is a tool to cast aspersions on the rich and famous. Going by the series of tweets and Facebook posts taking pot shots at celebs, one is tempted to infer that the Right to Freedom of Speech is being grossly misused. The reach of social media gives us the leverage to have an uncharitable go at the rich and famous. But do we ever introspect and imagine how we would have reacted had we been at the receiving end? Thanks to the advent of smart phones with their numerous applications, the world is at our door step. But does this technological upgrade allow us to stoop so low?
With the striking down of Section 66A in the Information Technology Act by the Supreme Court of India, social media abusers have got a shot in the arm. They can go hammer and tongs without running the risk of facing defamation suits.
Poor Fardeen Khan! He was least expecting that his weight gain would give him more publicity than his ‘volume’ of work as an actor. But such is the trend that even has-beens are taken out of their graves.
For some, trolling is a boon! Ask Donald Trump the presumptive Republican candidate in the US Presidential polls. The more is he made fun of, the better it is for him. Even Fardeen despite posting a comment countering the disparaging remarks could be a happy man. At least, may be for the wrong reasons, we are reminded of his past looks and ‘commendable’ performances in films like Dev, No Entry and Heyy Babyy.
Don’t be taken aback, if Fardeen signs a big banner film soon. After all, despite his self-imposed sabbatical, his ‘admirers’ are dying to see him back on screen. We trollers (if at all it’s the right usage) have actually done him a big favour.
Examples of how even negative publicity can resurrect careers are plenty. Singer Mika would know the best when he shot back into the public eye after that ‘infamous’ kissing episode with Rakhi Sawant. During those days, social media hadn’t made a big impact, but TV had.
But who needs the idiot box now? Twitter, Facebook, Hike, Whatsapp and other mediums are all that you need to make a comeback through. Smell a rat, you can! In this age of strong PR machineries, don’t be surprised if all these trolls are orchestrated by celebs themselves to stay in the reckonings.
Let’s not jump to conclusions, but the observation can’t be ruled out either. But irrespective of such machinations, it’s left to us as to how we will use the social media. And yes, trolling is certainly not a practice that should be encouraged.
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