In a matter of less than seven days, we got to hear about two leading ladies who were attacked verbally/physically. One was Raveena Tandon, who was at the receiving end when she intervened to pacify a group of people who had gathered outside her building. They were condemning her driver who was driving in reverse mode while trying to park her car in her compound. The other was Kangana Ranaut who was allegedly slapped by a CISF woman constable at the Chandigarh airport for comments she had made three years ago about women participating in the farmers’ protest in Delhi in 2021.
The similarity stops at the fact that both are actresses. Other than that, the case studies are an exercise in celebrity behaviour before and after the incidents.
In the incident involving Raveena Tandon, the video, which went viral, showed the actress being pushed and screamed at while she tried to make the irate members of the public see reason as she defended her driver who was accused of injuring three ladies. As it turned out later, nobody was injured. The ladies and their family members were venting out because they felt, they could’ve been injured. As is evident in the video shot by members of the public (not Raveena), the actress never once lost her cool. The commentary, which accompanied the viral video, mentioned that the actress was drunk and was pleading to not be beaten up. Even a cursory glance at the video would convince anybody that Raveena was as sober as sober can be and that she was not pleading simply because she was not being beaten by the family. Yes, she was definitely requesting the family and others who had joined in the tamasha, to refrain from shouting and shooting the video. The dignity with which Raveena conducted herself in spite of the instigation was commendable. Not just during the fight — which could’ve turned ugly had Raveena Tandon lost her temper — but also in its aftermath, the actress displayed an admirable sense of equilibrium by not pressing charges against the family for ridiculing, taunting and shouting at her publicly. By the time Raveena reached the police station with her distributor-husband Anil Thadani, the video must’ve reached her phone too. Yet, to her credit, it must be said that she opted to forgive and forget. The family also did not press charges against the actress, probably because there weren’t any! As the police, in a statement issued later, said, the family had over-reacted to the reversing of the car by Raveena’s driver. The police also added that no one was injured.
Compare this with Kangana’s incident. She was slapped for a rather mean and ridiculous comment she had made in 2021 during the farmers’ protest in Delhi. In a bid to side with the BJP government, against the policies of which the farmers from Punjab were up in arms, Kangana had then said that the women seen in the almost two-month-long protest were those who were asked to participate on payment of Rs. 100 each. This very comment had made Diljit Dosanjh (who hails from Punjab) publicly challenge the actress to prove what she had said. He did not mince words when he rebuked her for insulting the women who were protesting because they were the affected parties rather than doing it for money. Diljit’s reaction was so loud and so honest that Ranaut was forced to forthwith delete her tweet. The same tweet/comment came to haunt the actress three years later, by which time she had turned an MP too, when the CISF lady constable allegedly slapped her at the airport. According to reports, the constable’s mother was among the women participating in the protest — and, needless to add, without charging Rs. 100. Hence for the lacy constable, Kangana’s words in 2021 had cast a direct aspersion on her distressed mother.
As a nation, we tend to invariably give importance to the present while sometimes completely ignoring the past. While violence of any kind cannot be condoned and should be condemned, it is also a fact that Kangana’s comments of 2021 were highly objectionable. Any person, who loves his/her mother, would not tolerate this kind of reference if his/her mother were seen among the protesting farmers. The CISF constable must’ve nursed a grudge against Ranaut all these years and must have thought, when Kangana reached the airport where she (the constable) was on duty, that this was her golden chance to seek revenge. She must’ve been overcome by emotions and, in a fit of rage, landed a tight slap on the actress’ face. Rather than realising that the slap was a consequence of an irresponsible comment she had made two years back, what did Kangana do? She accused the constable of being a terrorist! It’s good that the outrageous remark did not get the importance which it ought to have because otherwise, the actress would have found herself in a soup for alluding that the CISF appoints terrorists!
Days after the unfortunate violent incident involving Kangana and the constable, Kangana’s comments on another incident of violence started to do the rounds of social media, exposing the actress’ double standards. In 2022, Kangana had supported Hollywood actor Will Smith smacking comedian Chris Rock on the dais at the 94th Oscar Awards function for having created a joke about Smith’s actress-wife, Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. The comment resurfaced after she criticised those who had defended the CISF constable’s action. After the slapping incident of Will Smith, Kangana had defended the actor in her Instagram Story section, saying that she would have also taken the same step if she was in Will’s place. To quote the actress: “If some idiot used my mother or sister’s illness to make bunch of fools laugh, I would slap him like @willsmith did…”
Clearly, as per Kangana’s logic, Will Smith can hit someone for cracking a joke on his wife but another woman (the CISF constable) cannot slap her for calling her mother a “Rs. 100 mein baithne waali” and asking to behead her farmer-father. The internet is full of comments about Kangana’s double standards and hypocrisy for her 2022 comments as against the incident involving herself.
While Raveena opted to close the chapter involving her driver and her, Kangana seems to be clinging on to her slapping incident. She first filed a complaint against the CISF constable against whom disciplinary action might be taken. She has also accused the film industry people of not taking up for her. Wonder why she has spared the other 542 newly-elected Lok Sabha members? For, they all, too, haven’t posted comments condemning the incident.
