What happened at the Raabta trailer launch between Sushant and you?
Somebody from Zee News asked for a comment on Pakistan's decision about
hanging Kulbhushan Jadhav. At this point, Dinesh Vijan (Raabta's producer)
turned around and said rather imperiously, "We won't take any question other than on Raabta." But later, I observed that they
were taking quite a few questions other than on Raabta. Like, they started
giving their take on nepotism. And I believe Sushant even spoke on fairness
creams.
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But don't you think that Kriti started it all?
Yes, Kriti told Dinesh Vijan (sitting to her
right) something to the effect that they should not talk on the Kulbhushan
Jadhav topic. Yes, I think she initiated the whole thing (pauses).
Go on...
I just got up and told Sushant, "Excuse me, but I think you should be
taking the question on Kulbhushan Jadhav."
If somebody is asking you a personal question, you certainly have the right to
duck it- but asking about Kulbhushan Jadhav was definitely not personal.
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And then?
Sushant was not allowing me to complete my question. He just didn't want to
take it. Pata nahin kya kya bolne laga. I only knew he is a good actor, but now
I also know that he is a very rude man.
We can ask Fawad Khan about Uri attacks. We ask national interest
questions to Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan,
Hrithik Roshan- and they reply politely. I have been to conferences when Ashok
Kumar took stage- but such a thing never happened. But you can't ask Sushant or
Kriti anything about national interest! Pray, why?
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Sushant said to you that he was not fully aware about the Khulbushan
Jadhav verdict...
I totally understand that every celebrity need not know everything about
every issue. I am not a frivolous or silly person
to insist that every celebrity must know everything.
And then he cross questioned me: If I ask you questions on national
interest, would you be able to answer? Heavens!
What disturbs me is the fact that Team Raabta didn't want to talk about
Kulbhushan at all. Right from Kriti's prompt to Dinesh's orders, it was clear
that they were ducking the question.
Did the Raabta makers tell you anything after the conference was over?
No, they are all my friends. They knew I was doing no wrong. And let me tell you one thing...
What?
While coming out from the conference at least 10 journos came and told
me that they are with me on this. But not one of them got up to speak in
suppport while the conference was actually going on.
Times have changed. Do you think such
things happen because every actor or event has a fleet of machinery
(publicists, managers) who virtually script their events?
But a PR can't be blamed for an actor's aggression. To answer your
question, why then does the media still go and crowd such events?
There have been cases where journalists have been strictly told not to ask
such-and-such things in a star's interview. There have been cases where
journalists are asked the list of questions they have prepared for a star's
interview...
Yes, times have changed. But why does the media interview such actors?
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Celebs have got into trouble when they spoke on issues related to
national interest...
This was not a communal issue that Team Raabta was asked to speak on. Is
it wrong to ask an Indian if he condemns Pakistan's hanging orders on
Kulbhushan Jadhav?
Sushant's way of handling the question was not right. I remember once
asking about the Surrogacy Bill to SRK, and very politely said that he hadn't
read much about it. You need to show grace, not aggression. And the question
was not addressed to Sushant even directly. Anybody from Team Raabta could have
taken it. Why did he take it so personally? And that too, so badly!
I conclude by saying that Sushant and Kriti don't know how to handle
press conferences, they should learn from Big B and SRK.
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