Author and columnist Shobhaa De has taken a swipe at Bollywood’s response to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protests, questioning whether the industry’s stars are still in tune with India’s Gen Z. She also mocked Salman Khan’s social media post for activist Sonam Wangchuk, dismissing it as “cringe.”
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Shobhaa De called out Bollywood’s response to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protests, saying the industry’s biggest stars seemed disconnected from Gen Z and failed to grasp the sentiment behind a youth-led movement. She expressed her views in her piece published in ThePrint.
In her criticism, Shobhaa De took particular aim at Salman Khan’s social media message for activist Sonam Wangchuk and also called out comments by Kangana Ranaut, Hema Malini and Anupam Kher during the ongoing youth-led movement. She described Bollywood’s response as “uncool” and “irrelevant”.
Talking about Salman’s post, Shobhaa wrote, “Ditto with Salman Khan. Calling Sonam Wangchuk ‘Bro’ and offering him a home-cooked meal from the Khan kitchen to break his fast attracted widespread derision, not praise… Maybe Salman thought he was being ‘cool’. But Gen Z rewrote the definition of ‘cool’. And this cringe message was anything but.”
She said Salman was not the only celebrity who seemed out of sync with young Indians, arguing that several film stars chose to speak up only after they felt it was politically safe to do so.
Sonam Wangchuk was admitted to a private hospital on July 21, a date after the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march in Delhi. He was lifted from the Jantar Mantar protest site on July 18 and taken to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, where he was admitted for three days. He led the 26-day hunger strike at Jantar Mantar against NEET paper leak, demanding Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation and broader reforms in the education system. He ended his hunger strike on July 24, a day before Pradhan’s resignation.
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Shobhaa wrote, “Bollywood has never looked this ‘uncool’. This irrelevant. Especially those stars who jumped in with inane ChatGPT-scripted posts once they had apparently received the green signal from their political patrons. The very stars whose box-office fortunes depend on Young India suddenly woke up, only to be met with mockery. Senior Aunty and Uncle stars such as Hema Malini and Anupam Kher added insult to injury, while Kangana Ranaut—just this side of ‘Aunty’ status—lost the few Gen Z fans she still possessed with her tasteless remarks. I call them ‘Generation Gutter’… The thing to understand is this: Gen Z does not need celebrity endorsements or heroes. It’s the reverse. Celebrities need Gen Z. This is a generation that marches, sings and dances to its own unique beat.”
Superstar Salman Khan was one of the first big Bollywood celebrities to voice his support for the CJP-led protests over the alleged NEET-UG paper leak. Earlier this month, he took to Instagram to share a note backing the students participating in the CJP protest after it turned violent following a police lathi charge. He wrote, “It was such a peaceful movement, feel so sad that it had to take a violent turn. My heart goes out to the students and their families who were hurt. Paper leak is a very serious issue, and I am glad to know n see that the kids of our country have come together for a better educational system, and their parents supported them.”
Later, he shared another post urging Sonam Wangchuk to end his hunger strike. Salman wrote, “The students are at top priority, educationally n security-wise, so they need not worry and have their parents worried for them. The Honorable Prime Minister has tweeted, and I am sure that he will take strict action against all those people who are responsible for this leak. So students, plz go back to your parents n homes.”
Addressing the hunger strike by Sonam Wangchuk, Salman added, “Sonam, it’s done, bro. Don’t extend this. Keep the spirit for another day if there be a need, which I doubt, n eat something. If u want, will send u food from home.”
