Rakul Preet Singh trolled for smoking in Manmadhudu 2, says ‘Shahid Kapoor smoked in Kabir Singh, doesn’t make him a smoker’
Taking the example of Shahid Kapoor and his film Kabir Singh, Rakul Preet Singh said that an actor smoking on screen doesn’t mean they are endorsing it to their fans.
Actor Rakul Preet Singh’s character in upcoming film Manmadhudu 2 was introduced with a special video recently. However, the video and Rakul’s character in the film has been subjected to a lot of criticism and trolling.
The featurette shows Rakul as a gentle and quiet young woman in the beginning but later reveals her to be a street smart person who knows how to use her sexuality to get what she wants. One scene, which shows Rakul smoking, has particularly drawn ire from some.
Talking about the scene to Pinkvilla, Rakul brought up comparisons with Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh, in which he plays an alcoholic, drugs and smoking addict. “I don’t really get bothered by trolls. I think logo ka kaam hai kehna, kuch toh log kahenge (people will say what they want to). We are playing characters, now whether it is Kabir Singh, if Shahid is smoking in the film it does not make him a smoker. No way he is promoting smoking. He is playing a character Arjun Reddy that is flawed and he does those things. In real life Shahid Kapoor is a vegetarian, we all know that. People should disassociate to what we are playing onscreen is different and it is a story of that one person...we are not putting the entire girl clan into girls not showing in the right way. That’s not happening. It is that one character Avantika that smokes and it’s her story. Once you see the film, people will know why she does. Treat it like the character...For me, it was something different. I really don’t pay attention to trolls...there are bigger and better things to do,” she said.
Rakul was at the centre of another controversy related to the film recently. There were reports that Rakul has been asked to gain weight for the film. But soon, film’s director Rahul Ravindran took to Twitter to clarify the rumours. “Contrary to some rumours, Rakul has been shooting with us from day one of the Portuguese schedule. We have all been gushing non-stop about how stunning she’s looking and thanking our lucky stars that we got her. What an incredible talent she is.”
The film stars Nagarjuna Akkinenni in the lead role. A sequel to super hit flick Manmadhudu, the film marks the first time collaboration of Rakul and Nagarjuna as a pair on screen. This is Rahul’s second directorial project. He made his debut as a director last year with Telugu romantic drama Chi La Sow, which was bankrolled by Nagarjuna’s Annapurna Studios.
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