Image: kareenakapoorkhan/Instagram
The end of April was a week of losses for Bollywood. Two legends, Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor, passed away one day apart. All of Bollywood, along with the nation, is mourning. Since the country is in lockdown, people took to social media, especially Instagram, to pay tribute to the legends who passed away. Celebrities and commoners alike mourned the loss of Irrfan Khan with the hashtag #gonetoosoon. Khan was 53 when he died in April 2020.
Rishi Kapoor was India’s heartthrob for the longest time. He started his career as an adolescent as early as 1970. In a short period, his fame skyrocketed as he found success and glory in cinema. He was 67 years old at the time of passing. He was survived by his wife, Neetu Singh, daughter, Riddhima Kapoor Sahani, and son, Ranbir Kapoor.
Rishi Kapoor was born into a successful family of actors. His grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor was a legendary figure in the Hindi film industry. His brothers, including Randhir Kapoor, were successful actors and producers. The youngest generation of the Kapoor family are also actors, including Rishi Kapoor’s son, Ranbir Kapoor, as well as Kareena Kapoor Khan, Randhir Kapoor’s daughter.
Being a Bollywood celebrity is not easy. It comes with a huge amount of love, fame, money as well as hate and criticism. Kareena Kapoor Khan was again at the receiving end of online hate when she posted a picture of her son Taimur Ali Khan and her husband, Saif Ali Khan Pataudi. The photo shows Saif Ali Khan giving a haircut to their young son, Taimur “Tim” Ali Khan.
Her online critics on Instagram found the timing of the post inappropriate, and the caption too light-hearted. According to many comments, she is trivializing the mood as she should have been busy mourning the death of her uncle, Rishi Kapoor. She had paid tribute to the legend with multiple posts, remembering his legacy and talent. One of the posts was captioned, “The best boys I know…papa and Chintu uncle,” followed by heart emojis to show the love and respect she has for the deceased.
Image: @kareenakapoorkhan/Instagram
She also posted a promotional image for the iForIndia concert for those who are affected by COVID-19, a commendable gesture by celebrities all over India, and also remembered to mention Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor. The caption said, “we lost two of our leading lights: #IrrfanKhanand #RishiKapoor. A stark reminder that life is fleeting. We must play our part. And keep the show going.”
Kareena Kapoor Khan being trolled for posting a picture of her own child despite this, sheds light on a bigger problem we have. As is often the case, celebrities and B-towners are more likely to fall victim to this hateful behavior online.
The term attributed to the sentiment is “grief-shaming”, the act of shaming a person for not mourning the death of a relative or dear one “properly”. A user wrote, “Your family had such a big loss just a few days ago. How can u joke even?” Another was of the opinion that Kareena’s post was disrespectful and done “as if nothing happened”.
Image: @kareenakapoorkhan/Instagram
These critics and shamers, however, often forget the fact that each one of us is supposed to process grief differently. A post on Instagram does not necessarily disrespect the process or the person. The response to Kareena Kapoor Khan’s post is not an isolated event of grief-shaming. Previously, Jhanvi Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, and other celebrities have been the victims of trolling for similar reasons. Carrying on with their lives as they are supposed to do not mean that they aren’t grieving. Also, unless you know someone in person, isn’t it better to refrain from judging? After all, nobody gets to cheat death, and nobody gets to cheat grief.
What is your opinion on grief-shaming? Let us know in the comments.
