Twinkle Khanna clarifies her reaction on the Akshay-Mallika controversy

Alisha Alam | Updated: Nov 4, 2017, 14:00 IST
Twinkle Khanna has never shied away from expressing exactly how she feels. She has always been appreciated for the clarity with which she discusses societal problems and taboos. Recently, her husband, actor Akshay Kumar was embroiled in a controversy after he made an off-colour joke about stand-up comic Mallika Dua on the sets of a TV reality show. Twinkle came out in support of Akshay for which she too faced an immense amount of criticism.

The actress had put up a post on Twitter, that described Akshay Kumar’s ‘bajata hun’ comment as merely “a pun on the words and actions related to ringing of the bell”. Now, after all the criticism she faced, the actress gracefully admitted that her reaction rode on emotions. Twinkle added, “I would like to apologize to everyone who felt that I was trivializing the cause of feminism especially because I strongly believe in equality and have been a feminist from the time I was a young woman, much before I even knew the term.”

Mallika, in the course of the controversy, had referred to Twinkle’s five-year-old daughter Nitaara, when she wrote, “Would the superstar be offended had someone jokingly said to his daughter “Nitaara ji, aap bell bajaaiye main aapko bajaata hoon”? – most probably.”

Twinkle admitted that once her daughter had been dragged into the episode, the actress reached her breaking point and reacted irrationally. Read her post below:

"Unwise Wisecracks

As I reflect on my actions this past week, I realize that I got pulled into this debate not as a social commentator but as a wife and unlike my normal, slightly rational self, my reaction was purely emotional and without perspective, and I have been rather miserable about it ever since.
I would like to apologize to everyone who felt that I was trivializing the cause of feminism especially because I strongly believe in equality and have been a feminist from the time I was a young woman, much before I even knew the term.
I think this came at a point where I was already reeling from an onslaught of abuse against various members of my family, which started with vicious and personal comments about my mother and went on to a widely shared open letter where the writer as a comeback for my comments about Karva Chauth tried to fling muck at every single member of my family. So when in this latest episode regarding my husband, my five-year-old was also dragged in for something that she had absolutely nothing to do with, I reached breaking point. And with my protective instincts in overdrive, I reacted irrationally with the only tools I have that help me retain my sanity in this fishbowl existence -words and lame jokes -though they have got me into trouble often enough in the past as well.
Once while embroiled in an earlier controversy (the story of my life it seems), I had written that a wise woman keeps her hands firmly in her pockets and does not accidentally unzip anything including her mouth. I am not this woman clearly, but I am going to try to be a little wiser from now on."

Stay tuned for more updates.

Credits: Hindustan Times

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