Irresponsible statements can leave us at the mercy of trolls, says Urwa Hocane on Aijaz Aslam's criticism
Rapid fire games on talkshows always seem to land celebrities in trouble — either they say something unfortunate or something unfortunate is said about them. The most recent celebrity to fall victim to a rapid fire round is Urwa Hocane who was named by Aijaz Aslam in The Couple's Show when asked which young actor needs to learn some manners. However, Hocane has fired back, urging seniors in the industry to remember their responsibility towards younger counterparts.
On May 8, the veteran actor appeared on the show hosted by Aagha Ali and Hina Altaf in which he answered questions as part of the eat or talk game segment Keh Ke Toh Dekh. He named Badzaat actor Hocane when asked if he could name an actor who needs to learn some manners. Despite never working with Hocane, he named her.
Aslam had said, "I haven't been through it myself but have heard about one or two incidents about Urwa. I heard that she loses her temper very quickly and has directed a show director once or twice. I could be wrong. There are always two sides to a story but if this is true then I would say Urwa."
Ali, the host of the show, hadn't worked with Hocane either, but jumped to her defence and said he recently met her and found that she was very "grounded". Aslam agreed and said that Hocane has always showed "respect" for him, despite the things he has heard from other people.
After his comment went viral, Hocane released a statement saying that she respects all her seniors in the fraternity, including their opinions and advice, but "they too have a responsibility towards their younger counterparts and the effect their words can have on someone's image, mind and even work".
"In all honesty, I am a creatively charged person which I proudly accept. And yes, I always indulge in healthy discussions with my directors or producers. I am sure he didn't intend to harm me and didn't realise how much it could blow out of proportion as I don't know him in a personal capacity or have not even been co star with him in a single production," she said.
For Hocane "irresponsible statements" can often leave celebrities at the mercy of internet trolls and therefore everyone must watch "what they say in public" especially when it's mere hearsay .
She thanked her colleagues, Ali and Altaf in the statement for understanding the "gravity of the matter" and for not becoming party to it.
Aslam also shared his own statement via Instagram stories and wrote that he has been noticing the news doing the rounds on social media, specifically the clip where he said that he heard from someone about Hocane's alleged poor behaviour.
"I want to clarify I have never worked with her or been ill treated by her. It was a multiple choice question asked of me during a show and even in my answer I said this is what people say but it may be wrong so kindly don't malign people on my behalf. Nothing but my respect for all my colleagues here," he explained.
However, the question about naming an actor that needs to learn manners was not a multiple choice question, according to the video of the show available online. The game asked participants to either answer the question or eat a weird food combination. Aslam chose to answer and had asked Ali if he could name someone he had not worked with.
Both the show hosts, when asked a question, chose to eat the item instead of answering, however, after Aslam responded, both concluded by thanking for his honesty and defended Hocane by saying that most of these rumours about her behaviour could be false.
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