Shameful?: Bollywood chooses to stay silent on Salman's rape remark controversy
Salman Khan, while promoting his upcoming film Sultan, compared the physical exhaustion experienced by him while shooting for the film akin to that of what a raped woman would undergo.
In Short
- The actor compared his physical exhaustion to what a raped woman would undergo.
- He came in for severe criticism from various quarters.
- Salman refuses to apologise and the industry refrains from taking him on.
Controversy's favourite child, Salman Khan has not yet apologised for what has been perceived as an offensive comment.
EXERCISE=RAPE FOR SALMAN?
The actor while promoting his upcoming film Sultan compared the physical exhaustion experienced by him while shooting for the film akin to that of what a raped woman would undergo.
He had the National Commission for Women up in arms and came in for severe criticism from various quarters.
That's not all, even though the NCW wants the actor to apologise publicly for his behaviour, the actor who got a public platform at the ongoing IIFA awards in Madrid chose say that the lesser he spoke the, the better for him.
NO COMMENT FROM BOLLYWOOD
Meanwhile Bollywood has maintained a stoic silence or been wishy washy in their reaction to the stars insensitive comment.
Barring filmmakers Farah Khan and Anurag Kashyap, members of the film fraternity have refrained from saying that the actor should apologise.
Meanwhile, Kangana Ranaut and singer Sona Mahapatra have been vocal in condemning the star unequivocally and have also added that it's the mentality prevalent in society that we should collectively be ashamed of.
FREIDA PINTO STANDS ALONE
At the ongoing IIFA awards Hollywood actor Freida Pinto was categorical in saying that she was offended by his comments and was shocked as well.
After all, Pinto will not be affected even if she takes a stance which might not please the superstar.
On the other hand filmmakers Kabir Khan and Rakyesh Om Prakash Mehra played it safe.
While the former did admit that what Salman said was wrong, he also added that whether he should apologise or not was upto him. Mehra on the other hand took the easy way out by saying that he had been quoted out of context. Also Vivek Oberoi who has rubbed Salman the wrong way in the past refused to even indulge the question.
NO APOLOGIES?
Salman refuses to apologise and the industry refrains from taking on the biggest Khan in Bollywood.
Earlier, on Thursday (June 23), during the inauguration of the International Indian Film Awards (IIFA), Salman had said, "I will not take much time, because nowadays the less I speak the better it is," and added jokingly that he should keep mum because everything he says gets misinterpreted.
Khan is all set to perform at the IIFA night, where his film Bajrangi Bhaijaan is a front-runner in the nominations for various categories. The 17th edition of IIFA, which travels to several continents, is being held in Spain for the first time.
In an interview to Spotboye. com, Salman had said, "While shooting, during those six hours, there'd be so much of lifting and thrusting on the ground involved.
That was tough for me because if I was lifting, I'd have to lift the same 120-kilo guy 10 times for 10 different angles. And likewise, get thrown that many times on the ground. This act is not repeated that many times in the real fights in the ring. When I used to walk out of the ring, after the shoot, I used to feel like a raped woman.
I couldn't walk straight. I would eat and then, head right back to training. That couldn't stop."
Right after social media erupted over that 'raped woman' analogy, an audio clip from the interviews was released on the Internet. It had Salman retracting his words the moment he uttered it, but that went unreported.
Also read:
I shouldn't have: Salman Khan was quick to retract raped woman metaphor but that went unreported
Anurag Kashyap on Salman's rape remark: He must say sorry