Vivek Oberoi’s tweet degrading his former friend Aishwarya Rai Bachchan with her little daughter in a meme had reportedly left Abhishek Bachchan seething. Vivek had likened his relationship with Aishwarya to an ‘exit poll’ and her marriage to Abhishek to the ‘result’ in reference to the just concluded exit poll predictions for this year’s Lok Sabha polls.
Aishwarya was in Cannes, when Vivek’s controversial tweet evoked considerable outrage on social media platforms. According to a report by Times of India, Abhishek was angry and wanted to retaliate but Aishwarya persuaded him to not resort to a public spat. Aishwarya, according to reports, felt that Vivek wanted them to react since he desperately needed public attention ahead of his film’s release. Aishwarya reportedly managed to convince her husband that Vivek was going downhill in his career and needed a fresh lease of life to make himself relevant in Bollywood again.
Vivek’s film, a biopic on PM Modi, was banned from releasing during the Lok Sabha elections. It was released on 24 May, a day after the results of this year’s parliamentary polls were announced.
The movie has failed to impress Bollywood fans and could only collect over Rs 2 crore on the day of its release.
Abhishek was also reportedly angry since the controversial meme shared by Vivek also carried the image of his daughter Aaradhya. Abhishek may have a reputation of being shy of controversies, but he has often been seen taking on trolls on social media head-on. Last year, a troll had attacked Abhishek by taunting him that he didn’t deserve the former Miss World as his wife.
Abhishek had shut up the troll without losing his cool as he wrote, “Walk a mile in my shoes, brother. If you even manage 10 steps I’ll be impressed. Judging by your tweets don’t think you’ll make it too far! Spend time improving yourself, don’t worry about others. God knows, we all have our own journeys. Get well soon.”
Vivek’s action had earned him widespread condemnation as women commissions of Maharashtra and India sent him notices seeking his response on the allegations of outraging a woman’s modesty. Faced with condemnation, Vivek had deleted the controversial post and apologised for his action.
Actress Sonam Kapoor had termed his action as ‘disgusting and classless.’ Reacting to the meme controversy, Salman, whose relationship with Aishwarya was termed as an ‘opinion poll,’ had said that he did not have time to post tweets and memes and was busy working on his next blockbuster.