Bollywood celebrities including megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor and Karan Johar among others, congratulated Indian woman wrestler Sakshi Malik for ending India’s frustrating medal drought by winning bronze medal at Rio Olympic Games.
Malik scripted history by becoming the first woman wrestler from India to bag an Olympic medal and only fourth female athlete from the country to climb to the podium at the biggest sporting event in the world.
The 23-year-old from Haryana defeated Kyrgysztan’s Aisuluu Tynybekova in the 58kg category to script history.
“Proud to be an Indian… Proud of Sakshi…More power to women !! JAI HIND,” Bachchan tweeted.
Aamir, who will be essaying the role of a wrestler in his upcoming biopic “Dangal” posted, “Congratulations Sakshi Malik! 1st Indian female wrestler to win an Olympic medal. Well done. You have done India proud!”
proud to be an Indian .. proud of Sakshi .. more power to women !! JAI HIND https://t.co/3Dbr6EtXQ4
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) August 18, 2016
Congratulations Sakshi Malik! 1st Indian female wrestler to win an Olympic medal. Well done. You have done India proud!
— Aamir Khan (@aamir_khan) August 18, 2016
Madhuri tweeted, “Congratulations #SakshiMalik for making us proud. You go girl.”
Congratulations #SakshiMalik for making us proud ?? ? You go girl!
— Madhuri Dixit Nene (@MadhuriDixit) August 18, 2016
Calling her the hope for future, filmmaker Johar posted, “The innocent smile of achievement and our smile is of immense pride…..#SakshiMalik is the hope for the future.”
The innocent smile of achievement and our smile is of immense pride…..#SakshiMalik is the hope for the future…. pic.twitter.com/WTdJ1yZ43k
— Karan Johar (@karanjohar) August 18, 2016
Akshay wrote, “Here comes the first! Thank you & congratulations #SakshiMalik! You’re the reason for a billion smiles today #Rio2016”
Here comes the first!Thank you & congratulations #SakshiMalik!You're the reason for a billion smiles today? #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/k0ZA1mxL2e
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) August 18, 2016
Abhishek wrote,”Many congratulations #SakshiMalik we are very proud!! #Rio2016″
“24” star Anil tweeted, “Congratulations #SakshiMalik! Stars like you make India shine #OlympicsRio2016 #Olympics”.
Riteish Deshmukh thanked Malik for making the nation proud. “The Indian flag flies high..You have made every Indian proud. Congratulations on the Olympic Bronze #SakshiMalik”.
Actor Arjun Kapoor also congratulated the sports star. “A truly fantastic achievement…Sakshi Malik u have made every Indian proud today…Congratulations!”
“Neerja” actress Sonam Kapoor hailed the girl power. “#SakshiMalik has proved that all you need is an opportunity. The rest, as they say, is history! #Winning #GirlPower #OlympicsRio2016,” she posted.
“Aligarh” actor Manoj Bajpayee wrote,”Congratulations #SakshiMalik Entire nation is rejoicing on your achievement. Thank you.”
Saluting the woman power, actor-singer Ayushmann Khurrana tweeted, “And India gets a medal in Olympics. Woman power! Hail #SakshiMalik! #RioOlympics2016 #wrestling.”
Actor Randeep Hooda, who also belongs to Malik’s home state Haryana, wrote, “Very proud of #SakshiMalik for ending our medal drought this #Olympics2016 #JatPride #ProudIndian #Rohtak”
“Proud of our Haryana ki Shaan # Sakshi Malik for winning the Bronze Medal in #RioOlympics2016 ..Hurrah!” filmmaker Satish Kaushik posted.
“Paraaya dhan does wonders for apne log always,” actress Taapsee Pannu tweeted.
Comedian Sunil Grover was also elated with win and tweeted, “Yay!!! Congratulations #SakshiMalik We win our first medal at #Rio2016” .
Actress and reality TV star Shamita Shetty posted, “Congratulations #SakshiMalik on being the 1st Indian female wrestler to win an #Olympic medal! You made us all so proud! #RioOlympics2016