Filmworld
'No one from the film industry has spoken about us'
New Delhi/Jaipur, July 9
A week after a fatal
accident in Rajasthan, in which the Mercedes sedan in which actor-MP
Hema Malini was travelling crashed into a Maruti Alto and killed a
two-year-old girl on the spot, the victim's father is left wondering not
just why the star has still not tried to contact or speak to the
bereaved family but why the film industry, which otherwise "speaks on
every subject", chose to remain silent.
In a series of tweets
following the July 2 car accident in Dausa around 50 km from Jaipur,
Hema, who was injured in the accident too, expressed her condolences to
the family whose car was smashed by her Mercedes, but said the accident
could have been averted if the girl's father "had followed traffic
rules".
But the police in Dausa had registered a case against
Hema Malini’s driver Mahesh Thakur, resident of Vrindavan in Uttar
Pradesh, and arrested him on July 3 charges of causing death by
negligence and overspeeding, leaving little room for doubt as to who was
the culprit. Hema Malini is the BJP MP from Mathura.
Social
media users went into a tizzy following her post on the micro-blogging
platform, slamming the actress for her insensitivity. Now Hanuman
Khandelwal, the victim's father, has raised an even more pertinent
question, saying: "No one from the film industry has spoken about us.
Why the industry, which speaks on every subject, is silent now? Someone
should have come forward and spoken on it."
The hapless father, a
cycle shop owner and one of the four injured in the mishap, told IANS:
"Even Hema-ji has not tried to contact or speak to us...it would have
been good for us if she would have spoken to us rather than blaming me
for the accident. The film industry should understand that there is a
difference between real life and reel life."
Bollywood veterans
like Anupam Kher, Shabana Azmi and Rishi Kapoor reacted, but they mostly
wished the actress a "speedy recovery". Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri
supported Hema and commented: "The Alto, in Hema Malini accident, was on
the wrong. But in India, larger vehicle is always wrong. Specially, if
it involves a celeb."
Largely, the film industry chose to refrain
from commenting on the issue. However, social media users were voluble
with their comments.
One @pranavjayan tweeted: "@dreamgirlhema
shame on ua part! Criticizing da girls family doesnt show ua humanity.!
Being a politician such a cheap selfish act (sic)", while another user,
named Medha Chatterjee, shared: "How I wish Hema Malini kept her mouth
shut. Her statements make her look shallow n heartless! Pity, we have
MPs like her representing India."
People on the streets of the desert state too have condemned the 66-year-old actress for her apparent lack of feeling.
"Hema
Malini is a big star. Moreover she is a politician, at least she should
have known what to speak. It is not proper for a person like her to
tweet the way she did," said Manish Kumar, an executive with a private
company in Jaipur.
Echoing similar views, Rashmi Singh, a
college-goer said: "I respect Hema-ji a lot, but by tweeting and laying
blame on a person who lost her daughter is just sickening. How can she
do it and that too after six days of the accident....why react so late
and that too in bad taste."
Hema Malini's daughter, Esha, had
been quoted as saying after her mother returned from hospital: "My
mother will help the families of victims. She is doing this not because
she is a neta (leader) but because she is a good human being as well."