Popular actor Reem Shaikh, who is currently busy shooting for Laughter Chef Season 2, faced heavy criticism after failing to respond to a paparazzi question about the recent Air India plane crash. Her ignorant and tone-deaf reaction to the Ahmedabad incident was brutally called out by netizens.
On Saturday night, Reem took to social media to clarify that her sister works as a crew member for Air India.
She wrote, "First of all, to everyone trolling me for not knowing about the plane crash -please stop. My sister flies for Air India. My real sister. When the crash happened, I was one of the first to know. I've watched her break down, sitting at home, crying, mourning the loss of her fellow crew members. This isn't just a headline for me; it's deeply personal.."
She continued, "Secondly, the pap who asked me said, "Kal ke baare mein kuch bolo," not "Kal ke plane crash ke baare mein kuch bolo." It's heartbreaking how quickly assumptions are made. If I seemed distant, it wasn't because I didn't care. It was because I wasn't asked about the tragedy directly, and I wasn't going to start speaking about something so sensitive without being asked specifically."
Reem added, "Lastly, I usually avoid standing and talking to the media. To those calling me insensitive, please understand - I can't bring myself to grieve publicly, in front of cameras, only to turn around and act carefree later. That's not me. It's not how I process pain."
"This loss has hit close to home in ways I can't even explain. My sister works with these people. I've seen her cry for them, and I've cried with her. Please don't judge someone's heart based on a brief moment you saw on camera. This is a tragedy, and we should all be mourning it with compassion, not tearing each other down", she signed off.
For the unversed, a video of Reem had gone viral on the internet in which a pap was seen asking her, "Ma'am kal ke baare mein kya bolenge?", referring to the plane crash. To that, the actress had replied, "Kyu, kal kya hua tha?" When the paps mentioned the plane crash, she was seen refraining from commenting further and walking away.
Ashoke Pandit has also shared the video slamming the actress's reaction.
He captioned the video as, "How insensitive & inhuman can one be? A young actress, whose life probably revolves around her vanity van, make-up and costumes, is behaving as if she is living on a different planet. Should apologise for her stupid reaction towards a tragedy. Sad."
In the video, Pandit said, "Doston aisa ho sakta hai ki yeh dharti par, iss desh mein ya videsh mein, aisa koi praani ho jise iss baat ka pata na ho ke ek Air India ka jaahaaz zameen pe gira, crash hua? Lekin aaye main aapko aisi shaks milane jaa raha ho jisko iss baat ka pata nahi ke yeh hua hai. (Friends, is it possible that on this earth, in this country, or abroad, there may be a human being who has no idea that an Air India plane fell on the ground and crashed? But, I am going to introduce you to such a person who has no idea this)."
"Inko pata hie nahi hai ke air crash hua hai aur itne log maare gaye hai. Inki zindagi vanity van ke bahar nikli nahi hai abhi tak. Yeh ussi vanity van mein ghum rahi hai (She doesn't know that there has been an air crash and so many people have died. Her life hasn't come out of the vanity van yet. She is roaming in the same vanity van)," he further added.
He later deleted the video after Reem's clarification.
