'Nadaaniyan' actor defends co-stars Ibrahim, Khushi amid backlash

Bollywood actor Jugal Hansraj came out in support of his ‘Nadaaniyan’ co-stars Ibrahim Ali Khan and Khushi Kapoor, amid criticism of their poor performances. 

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Ibrahim Ali Khan, eldest son of Bollywood A-lister Saif Ali Khan, made his much-awaited film debut with Karan Johar’s Dharmatic Entertainment’s ‘Nadaaniyan’, co-starring Khushi Kapoor, in her second release of the year.

Young film director Shauna Gautam’s debut feature, also featuring veteran actors Suniel Shetty, Dia Mirza, Mahima Chaudhary and Jugal Hansraj, opened to largely negative reviews, ever since it started streaming on Netflix earlier this month.

The title majorly garnered underwhelming reviews for the ‘unpolished’ acting chops of the lead actors, who also made it to numerous meme pages and were ridiculed on social media for their disappointing performances.

Amid this, Hansraj, who essays Dr Sanjay Mehta, father of Khan’s character Arjun, in the film, has come out in support of young star kids, slamming the ‘personal attacks’ on them.

In his new interview, the ‘Mohabbatein’ actor said, “Criticism should be constructive. If somebody who knows about cinema or has some experience in the field, has a show or an article where they write about what worked and what didn’t, that’s something one can learn from.”

“But on social media, I’ve noticed that there are a lot of personal attacks, which are not criticism. It’s just being silly and petty,” he added. “Who am I to say it’s bad? I just say it didn’t work for me or I didn’t connect with it. But some people proclaim as if they know everything.”

Also Read: Ibrahim Ali Khan threatens Pakistani film critic after ‘Nadaaniyan’ review

Hansraj also noted, “In the ’80s, many actors started off new with their first films, but there was no social media, so they were given space and time to grow and improve. There was equal awkwardness in all of us when we started off, but because of the lack of social media, there wasn’t this unfair scrutiny.”

“Now, unfortunately, young actors – not just these two, but many others – are under intense spotlight… Personal attacks are not cool. If you have something constructive to say, please say it. That kind of feedback helps actors learn and improve. But personal attacks about appearance get murky and messy,” he concluded and maintained that he is not a supporter of this kind of criticism.