We have seen even prominent heroines being openly abused. Such cases reveal the anti-feminism and retrograde visions that prevail in the cinema as in any other sector of society. Director Sajid Khan is known for his misogynistic comments. There are many incidents where Sajid publicly insults his colleagues.
Now, the conversation between Riteish Deshmukh and Sajid has again flooded social networks. A video of Sajid and Ritesh talking about Vidya Balan is going viral. Sajid’s body shaming towards Vidya has been heavily criticized on social media.
Hey Baby is a 2007 film directed by Sajid. Vidya Balan was the heroine of the film. Hey Baby is a movie starring Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh and Fardeen Khan in lead roles. Shah Rukh Khan also made a guest appearance. The movie was a great success.
A video of Ritesh appearing as a guest on the show hosted by Sajid is now going viral. As part of the show, Vidya Balan would ask Ritesh questions via video. Everyone asks me, I don’t even know, are you single? Vidya asked Ritesh. Riteish’s response to that is, I’m always single for you, honey.
Meanwhile, Sajid intervened. Sajid asked Ritesh if she ever fell in love with Vidya during the shooting of Hey Baby. Before Ritesh could answer the question, Sajid intervened again. Sajid said because that time Vidya was in love with you. Ritesh was worried about this. The video is filmed together with Sajid saying that she will crush Vidya every time she hugs him because she is too fat.
Many people have spoken out against the reference in the video. What a dirty person Sajid is, he doesn’t even realize that what he did was shame the body. Both names are also broken. Body shaming is so normalized. Social media says that even as Vidya puts on one good performance after another, his focus is on his body.
Social media is also asking if Sajid was body-shamed against Vidya when she was fat herself. Vidya Balan has spoken many times about the body shame she has faced. Social networks wonder what those who make fun of this on national television will be like in person.
Meanwhile, Vidya’s new movie is Neeeth. The teaser for the movie directed by Anu Menon was released recently. Sajid Khan is staying away from all movies after many people have made accusations against him. Sajid recently made a comeback via Bigg Boss. But the attempt to bring Sajid back into the mainstream has been met with severe criticism.
Story first published: Thursday, July 6, 2023 4:05 PM [IST]
