From blaming the victims of sexual harassment to questioning the need for self-defence, Mukerji angered netizens with her vague remarks
Mumbai: While the #MeToo movement brought many sex offenders out in the open, especially in the entertainment industry, looks like actor Rani Mukerji slept through it all.
At a recent interview with Rajeev Masand, Mukerji joined Bollywood stars such as Tabu, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Taapsee Pannu and Anushka Sharma for a roundtable discussion. Soon enough, the conversation veered towards the #MeToo movement that rocked the country a few months ago.
While the other present actors lauded the movement, Rani quipped up with the classic victim-shaming line, saying, "You have to have the courage to protect yourselves." When Padukone interjected and said, "There are women who are not constructed like that. They feel cornered," Mukerji continued her tirade, "Those are the women we need to talk to and tell them that they need to change themselves."
Even Anushka Sharma joined in to point out that her statements were blaming women for bringing upon the harassment on themselves. Rani continued to wax eloquent about how women should learn martial arts as Deepika rightly asked, "Why even bring it to a point where girls should learn self-defence?"
Needless to say, the Twitterati were incensed and tweets criticising her take on the movement that brought closure to many women and men erupted on the news feed. While some turned the reactions of the other actors into memes, others made jokes about Mukerji's misinformed statement.
We can't help but feel major 'If they don't have bread, let them eat cake' vibes from the Hichki actor. Take a look:
Rani Mukherjee is that friend in group discussion round of placement who thinks speaking more will get more brownie points. https://t.co/56LkqRX6y2
— 🇮🇳Pandey🇮🇳 (@Jhalla_wallah)seeing Rani Mukherjee talk about and then comparing it to what Deepika and Anushka said about the cause.. you can clearly see the difference between the two generations
— M U H A M M A D ALI (@alleearain)The expressions of the other women on the roundtable, when Rani Mukherjee launched into her stupid diatribe against the movement, say it all. pic.twitter.com/P7jIsZIVnr
— Aniruddha Guha (@AniGuha)Jus felt Radhika apte could have been there instead of
— Swasthika (@itsmeswasthika)A person like should speak some sense at least. She's talking about self defense and learning martial arts (chak chak chak? 🤔🤭🤐) but always roam with bouncers to save herself. Such a hypocrite and her latest comment is so appalling.
— Swasthika (@itsmeswasthika)your privileged background has made you a total ignorant. This is no trolling but a voice of a disappointed fan.
— Pragnya Panchal (@writergiri_prag)Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.