Sonam Kapoor is in the news – she was recently on the cover of Vogue so of course there was buzz around this. And then there were headlines because she moved to London spoke about her ‘immigrant’ experience. She also said that London gave her freedom. A lot of the tweeple reacted with some annoyance.
Sonam K Ahuja spoke about her work, the gender pay gap and the fact that she had the privilege to be able to afford to say no to roles for that reason. She spoke about fashion and the causes she worked for and so on. She spoke about missing Mumbai and about valuing her Indian roots in her Instagram posts.
Reportedly, she also said that London gives her freedom, where she does her own chores and so on.
Predictably there were those who picked up one statement of what was reportedly said and expressed their disdain. It does sound a little divorced from reality when a celeb says that cooking and cleaning are a form of freedom.
A lot of the tweeple made sarcastic statements about the supposed ‘freedom’ Kapoor experiences being in London. They pointed out that among the underprivileged in India, the concept of 'freedom' is rather different.
So there was a significant amount of pushback from the tweeple for what was seen as a tone-deaf comment by someone born and raised in privilege.
Some felt that this is just one more statement from a statement that is meant to ruffle feathers and create controversy. Because in show biz, all publicity is good publicity, after all.
Certainly there is a great sense of entitlement in Sonam Kapoor’s statement. But does it need to attract quite so much trolling?
Most Indians who can afford it, do in fact have house help and those same Indians do their own cooking and cleaning when they move abroad. Why should celebrities be trolled for what is pretty much par for the course? Celebrities who go abroad often do find it freeing to have a certain degree of anonymity in a country where they are not easily recognised. I am no fan of Sonam Kapoor. She is an adequate actor who has made good use of her lineage – I doubt she would have had the success she enjoys if she wasn’t Anil Kapoor’s daughter and Boney’s niece. However, I feel that trolling celebs for expressing personal opinions such as these smacks of resentment for their very fame and celebrity.
To some of us, Sonam Kapoor’s statements are not relatable. But why make personal attacks such as these? I don’t believe that Kapoor’s good fortune is fully deserved – but I don’t grudge her her privilege either. Privilege is, after all relative. I may be 'underprivileged' compared with Nita Ambani, but when compared to the cleaning woman who works in my home – the woman I am hugely thankful to for making my life so much easier – my own privilege is also staggering.
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