New Delhi: In wake of women panels and Bollywood celebrities condemning Vivek Oberoi's tweet on exit polls as "disrespectful" to the dignity of women, the actor said he has always been careful about respecting the opposite gender.
Vivek landed in a controversy over a meme he tweeted, virtually mixing politics and films by dragging in the personal lives of Bollywood bigwigs.
His tweet showed a set of three photos - one referring to 'opinion poll' having a picture of Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai, next was the 'exit poll' depicting himself with the actress and the third showing Aishwarya Rai Bachchan with her husband Abhishek Bachchan and their seven-year-old daughter Aaradhya.
READ |Vivek Oberoi refuses to apologise for Aishwarya Rai meme
The meme was originally shared by someone else on Twitter, but Vivek picked it up for his own comment: "Haha! Creative! No politics here just life!"
The Maharashtra State Women's Commission (MSWC) has found Vivek's tweet on exit polls as "disrespectful" to the dignity of women and plans to take action against the actor. Moreover, the 'Sathiya' actor's insensitive post has visibly irked Sonam Kapoor and Madhur Bhandarkar who took to social media to condemn the "disgusting and classless" tweet.
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Disgusting and classless. https://t.co/GUB7K6dAY8
— Sonam K Ahuja (@sonamakapoor) May 20, 2019 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">Disgusting and classless. https://t.co/GUB7K6dAY8
— Sonam K Ahuja (@sonamakapoor) May 20, 2019Disgusting and classless. https://t.co/GUB7K6dAY8
— Sonam K Ahuja (@sonamakapoor) May 20, 2019
“I read her (Sonam Kapoor) reaction. Sometimes people just comment on Twitter to be cool. I would like to ask Sonam what she has done for women empowerment and how much has she worked?”, said Vivek to ANI in a video interview.
He added, “In the last 10 years, we rescued around 2200 kids from child prostitution and child labour. We have also given them free education, free healthcare and free food and empowered them. Some of them are even studying in US, UK and Canada. I have done this in the last 10 years and it is well documented. International magazines have also covered it."
READ | Vivek Oberoi slammed for 'disrespectful' tweet, Maharashtra women wing demands action
Taking a sly dig at Sonam's reaction to his tweet, Vivek said that few people use social media to sound cool while he has been working on women empowerment for over a decade.
"I have been working on women empowerment since 10 years, when Sonam was working on her makeover. I would just like to tell her that you are a nice girl and I respect your father, Anil Kapoor a lot. I would like to reply to your tweet and I personally would like to give you some advice. Aap apni filmon mein thoda kam overact karein aur social media pe thoda kam overreact karein", said Vivek.
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Vivek Oberoi speaks on Sonam Kapoor's reaction to his tweet (on exit polls), "...Aap apni filmon mein thoda kam overact karein aur social media pe thoda kam overreact karein. I've been working in women empowerment for 10 yrs now. I don't think this is hurting anyone's sentiments" pic.twitter.com/pOWAwO29N6
— ANI (@ANI) May 20, 2019 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">Vivek Oberoi speaks on Sonam Kapoor's reaction to his tweet (on exit polls), "...Aap apni filmon mein thoda kam overact karein aur social media pe thoda kam overreact karein. I've been working in women empowerment for 10 yrs now. I don't think this is hurting anyone's sentiments" pic.twitter.com/pOWAwO29N6
— ANI (@ANI) May 20, 2019Vivek Oberoi speaks on Sonam Kapoor's reaction to his tweet (on exit polls), "...Aap apni filmon mein thoda kam overact karein aur social media pe thoda kam overreact karein. I've been working in women empowerment for 10 yrs now. I don't think this is hurting anyone's sentiments" pic.twitter.com/pOWAwO29N6
— ANI (@ANI) May 20, 2019
Explaining his post, he said: "I don't think this is, in any way, harming or hurting anyone's sentiments and if it was, people have a voice. The concerned people would have said it.”
"Someone sent me a meme, I laughed at it and gave a response. It doesn't have bad words, it has nothing abusive, no sensational photo... It has a beautiful family photograph of Aishwarya, Aaradhya and Abhishek together, and they are happy... May God give them lots of happiness", he further added.
However, Nationalist Congress Party women wing chief Chitra Wagh and others demanded stringent action against Vivek for the meme. Demanding a "satisfactory explanation" from the actor, the NCW noted that the "insulting and misogynistic" Twitter post carrying the picture of a minor girl and a woman, drew a sly comparison between the poll results and a woman's personal life.
"He has insulted the dignity of Aishwarya Bachchan. The MSWC must lodge a complaint against Oberoi and he should be arrested for crossing his limits of decency towards women," Wagh said.
On the work front, Vivek's next 'PM Narendra Modi', on the life of the Prime Minister, will finally see the light of the day on May 24.
With inputs from IANS, ANI
