In the past few weeks, several celebrities have online hosted fundraisers and urged everyone to donate what they can towards relief efforts in the country. However, they have been criticized for asking common folk rather than contributing themselves.
Subsequently. actress Jacqueline Fernandez has come out to defend celebrities saying that everyone is doing the best they can and this isn’t the time to spread negativity. Now, Arjun Kapoor has also shared his two cents on the matter.
“At the end of the day, people have a right to their opinion. Everybody has an opinion about everything. Opinions today are very easy to float because you have a computer or a keyboard in front of you and you can type what you feel. Half the time, people don’t even know what they are typing and they don’t mean what they say. You can’t get upset and react to everything, and I also don’t owe anyone an explanation.”
Hindustan Times quoted him adding,
“If today, I don’t do something, I don’t owe you an explanation. If I do something, I don’t owe you an explanation. If I do something behind the scenes, I don’t need to come out and tell you what I am doing, and if I am doing something and I want to tell you, that is my business, that I want people to know that I am doing something good. Each celebrity, each individual is unique in what they are experiencing and feeling. You are allowed to take care of yourself before you take care of others. You are allowed to take care of everybody and not bother about yourself. It is very individual.”
“Celebrities get bunched up and clubbed into this jhund (flock) of people who are supposed to come together and help the world exactly like superheroes and then they are supposed to be accountable at all times. They have to also take care of themselves.
Some people like to take a backseat, some like to step in the foreground because they have the capability. It’s a human thing, it’s not a celebrity thing. Not every human being you know is going out there and doing everything, right? Some are, some are not in a position to, and celebrities are no different. We are humans. I don’t have a take on it beyond this.”
Further focussing on individuality, he said,
“I just feel like there is a lot of noise that comes with the territory. You have to just do what you feel and it is absolutely okay. I say this to anybody watching, if they worry or wonder about perception — ‘Am I doing enough?’ — it’s okay. Please do not feel pressured. Take care of yourself, take care of people around you. And even if you are doing things, you don’t have to put it out there. And if you are putting it out there, there is nothing wrong with that either, because you are motivating and encouraging people.
There is no right or wrong in this, it is very personal and subjective. People have to get rid of their opinions and at least respect some dignity and some privacy about these things. Everybody should be allowed to do what they feel right, whether doing extra and flaunting it at that point so that people get influenced or somebody saying, ‘I don’t like to talk about it or flaunt it.’ Both sides are right and we must learn to be respectful of it.”
Do you think he makes a fair point? Or do you believe that celebrities should be held accountable as they exert some degree of influence over their audience? Tell us.