Mallika Dua Responds To Twinkle Khanna's Apology In The Akshay-Mallika Controversy!

A day after Twinkle Khanna clarified her stance on ‘bajata hun’ comments by husband, actor Akshay Kumar, in a lengthy Facebook post, Mallika Dua has reacted to her statement. Taking to twitter, the comedian didn’t name anyone but posted, “That’s the thing about parents. They are protective of their children whether they are 5 or whether they are 28.”

On Friday Twinkle shared a post on her earlier comments on Mallika Dua-Akshay Kumar controversy, clarifying she “got pulled into this debate not as a social commentator but as a wife and unlike my normal, slightly rational self, my reaction was purely emotional and without perspective.”

Saying she has been “miserable” ever since, Twinkle added that she reached a breaking point when her 5-year-old daughter Nitara was pulled into it, “…my five-year-old was also dragged in for something that she had absolutely nothing to do with, I reached breaking point. And with my protective instincts in overdrive, I reacted irrationally with the only tools I have that help me retain my sanity in this fishbowl existence -words and lame jokes -though they have got me into trouble often enough in the past as well.”

The controversy began when a video from Great Indian Laughter Challenge leaked late last month. Akshay Kumar, who is a super judge in the TV show, could be heard telling Mallika – one of the show’s mentors, “Mallikaji aap bell bajao, mai aapko bajata hu.” In the show, Akshay and the mentors are supposed to ring a bell when they like the performance of a comedian. The comment was made by Akshay in the same vein.

Reacting to the comment, Mallika’s father journalist Vinod Dua wrote he would like “to scr*w this cretin”. The post was later taken off Facebook.

As the controversy snowballed, Twinkle also wrote about it, “A pun on the words and actions related to ringing the bell. It’s a colloquial phrase that both men and women use -- for instance, ‘I am going to bajao him/her’ or ‘I got bajaoed’, all without sexist connotations.” talking about Vinod’s comment, she wrote, “Mr Vinod Dua, Ms Dua’s father, had written in a post-”I am going to screw this cretin Akshay Kumar”. Should Mr Dua’s statement also be taken literally or taken in context?”

Mallika, meanwhile, also shared her version of the events on social media and wrote, “This is not about Akshay Kumar, instead it is about every big star, who cannot differentiate between charm and harm. This is about every big celebrity who thinks his colleague enjoys being grabbed by the waist and twirled without her consent. This is about workplace etiquette for everybody, men and women included, and about understanding the idea of professional communication so we don’t make someone uncomfortable in their place of work, unintentionally or otherwise.”

Here’s Twinkle’s clarification on the entire episode:

As I reflect on my actions this past week, I realize that I got pulled into this debate not as a social commentator but as a wife and unlike my normal, slightly rational self, my reaction was purely emotional and without perspective, and I have been rather miserable about it ever since.

I would like to apologize to everyone who felt that I was trivializing the cause of feminism especially because I strongly believe in equality and have been a feminist from the time I was a young woman, much before I even knew the term.

I think this came at a point where I was already reeling from an onslaught of abuse against various members of my family, which started with vicious and personal comments about my mother and went on to a widely shared open letter where the writer as a comeback for my comments about Karva Chauth tried to fling muck at every single member of my family. So when in this latest episode regarding my husband, my five-year-old was also dragged in for something that she had absolutely nothing to do with, I reached breaking point. And with my protective instincts in overdrive, I reacted irrationally with the only tools I have that help me retain my sanity in this fishbowl existence -words and lame jokes -though they have got me into trouble often enough in the past as well.

Once while embroiled in an earlier controversy (the story of my life it seems), I had written that a wise woman keeps her hands firmly in her pockets and does not accidentally unzip anything including her mouth. I am not this woman clearly, but I am going to try to be a little wiser from now on.