Be it Johnny Depp-Amber Heard's defamation trial or Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Sandhu Miss Harnaaz opening up about being body shamed or Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas becoming parents via surrogacy – celeb stories always make big headlines. And, it is often seen how every such incident leads to people judging these known names without knowing the truth that lies behind them. Agreeing to the same is Sudhanshu Pandey who feels that it’s time people do proper research, and understand before commenting on celeb’s lives. He also urges people to be kind and considerate.
“Celebrities are always easy targets and will be criticized for the smallest of things they do as they are public figures, and people look up to them. It’s just that, people tend to forget that celebrities are also human beings and they do react sometimes and they could have weak moments in life. And, yes they also can put on weight, be unwell, and do certain things because that is the only way out, but without thinking much, people make their conclusion. I think it’s a part and parcel of being a celebrity as they are the easy targets,” he adds.
Pandey too has faced a lot of trolling because of Vanraj, his character in the famous TV soap ‘Anupamaa’.
“I get abusive messages, but still people love to watch you and they still love to hate you. The best way to deal with it is to take it with a pinch of salt and understand that it is just a form of reaction from people. They probably believe in the character so much that they tend to hate you and you should be happy as long as they are reacting. I would be worried if they don’t react because that means I am not performing well,” he says.
Social media makes things go viral and most of them enjoy the attention, but many react to it as well. “As I said, we must take it with a pinch of salt as reacting to it doesn't make any sense unless it crosses the lines. You can put your point across to the viewers and make them understand that it is just a character you are playing. If they react to your personal life then you may as well not react to it because it’s futile,” he explains.
Fame has its price. Being a celebrity is not a joke as it brings its own baggage as well as responsibilities. Pandey, of course, understands every bit of it given his experience.
“You have to understand that being a celebrity comes with a lot of responsibility and you have to maintain your calm and patience and keep doing your job. Make sure whatever you do, you do it with perfection and keep growing and evolving. Use all the trolling and judgement to motivate you to evolve as a human being as you learn to be calm and control your emotions,” he concludes.
