New Delhi: Popular RJ and presenter Malishka Mendonsa and her colleagues recently faced widespread criticism after a section of social media users called her out for making the Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra uncomfortable by dancing in front of him during a virtual interview. A day ago, Malishka posted a small clip of her interview with Neeraj, and as per the visuals shared on Twitter, she and her colleagues could be seen dancing to Uden Jab Jab Zulfen Teri from the 1957 film Naya Daur, while the 23-year-old athlete watched on through the screen.
During the 30-second dance routine, the star javelin thrower was seen sitting silently and smiling. Along with the clip, she tweeted, "Ladiesssss..Yes I got the hard hitting, deep answers too but..Take the first 4 secs before the cam moves to the zoom call to guess who we are dancing forSmiling face with halo ;) #udejabjabzulfeinteri and then tell me I did it for all of us #gold #olympics #neerajchopra @RedFMIndia @RedFM_Mumbai."
The video did not sit well with netizens who accused her of making him "uncomfortable" and slammed Malishka for her unprofessional behaviour. Some even compared the incident to "harassment", while others condemned the "cringe-fest". A Twitter user wrote, "Neeraj was evidently feeling awkward there, you should have known better and chosen a different way to conduct this interview/chat."
Another user sarcastically joked, "Dear @Neeraj_chopra1 I won't charge any consultation fee if you need any psychological therapy after this incident." Other reactions to the video were also mostly negative, with Twitterati pointing out that not only was the dancing unprofessional, it would have also been slammed as sexist, had gender roles been reversed. "Dear @mymalishka. How would your feminist self react if a female athlete was shown a dance by 5-6 male RJs on "ude jab jab zulfein teri" and by the end they asked her "zyaada to nahi cheda na aapko humne" ?? Please answer since you've been quite vocal on idea of gender equality," wrote a Twitter user.