Internet and music launch of the film Toxic -starring Yash and Kiara Advani-should’ve been about the chemistry and the cinematic romance of it.
But a massive detour down an outrageously dramatic and theatrical rabbit hole occurred as comments sections were soon flooded with the internet “saving” Sidharth Malhotra and declaring that he “needed protection at all costs.” And thus, welcome to “Save Private Sidharth,” where an actor who is happy and married gets turned into a meme symbol of unheard pain just because his wife is doing her work.
Why Sidharth Malhotra Needs the Internet’s “Protection”
The internet thrives on narratives and every few years it picks a star as the most tortured individual on earth.
This year the crown fell upon Sidharth Malhotra. In response to the teaser and music release for Toxic-where Kiara Advani engages in a multitude of flirtatious and intimate moments with her co-star Yash-comments pages erupted:
“Free my man.”
“Imagine your wife doing this, he must be crying.”
“Money isn’t everything. He looks broken.”
Even armchair body language experts went into a tizzy, poring overpap images from weeks ago and analyzing that Sidharth had a “1.7 second smile” and was “devastated.” (In truth, Sidharth has not mentioned a word on the subject, completely disengaged from the story being woven around him.)
The Rumors vs. Reality of Kiara Advani
As the fabricated drama gained momentum, there were reports circulating that Kiara had asked the makers of Toxic to tone down or even remove intimate scenes to “respect her marriage.” But just before the fake news could solidify as “fact,” Kiara took to her Instagram to dispel the rumors entirely. Even then, it was too late, as the internet’s meme factory had already revved up its engines.
The Reddit Reality Check – A Textbook Double Standard: If the narrative on Instagram was filled with over-the-top sympathy, users on Reddit were quick to point out the obvious societal double standard at play.
Is this behavior only to be labeled a crisis when an actress, who is happily married, has romantic scenes after marriage? In response to Kiara and Yash’s cinematic chemistry, internet users poured out comments such as: “How could Sidharth allow this?” and “Poor Sidharth, he deserves better.” Instead of focusing on the professional aspects of the job, comments overwhelmingly centered on Sidharth Malhotra and his supposed suffering.
Conversely, Yash’s participation in romantic sequences with Kiara was largely met with silence.
No one was asking “Justice for Yash’s wife” or questioning his marriage. Clearly, when a married woman does her job, she faces backlash, while a married actor continues with their work and nobody bats an eye. The Takeaway Sidharth Malhotra is not Bollywood’s Princess Diana and he isn’t silently suffering.
He’s an actor who understands that screen romance, an intimate scene, is an assignment, a job-it is not a matrimonial problem, the same way Shah Rukh Khan has romanced dozens of women on-screen who are not Gauri Khan for more than 3 decades, and Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone have had countless romantic, intimate films – but nobody has raised questions for them or asked for them to be saved.