MUMBAI MIRROR (November 9, 2017)

Mirror (September 22) had earlier reported that after meeting at a charity gala in Dubai, Ranbir Kapoor and Mahira Khan continued with their cross-border friendship. After pictures of the couple in New York went viral, the actor released a statement clarifying that he had got to know Mahira in a personal capacity over the last few months and he admires and respects her for her achievements, and even more for the person she is. “It is very unfair the way she is being judged and spoken about. What is also sad is the inequality in judgment just because she is a woman. I request you to stop the negativity and move on with your beautiful god gifted lives,” he asserted.

Mahira finally opened up on the subject to a Pakistani website, Something Haute, admitted that she had often thought of responding to the controversy too. “I’m a very strong woman but when all of this happened, I was completely shattered and broken. I would think about posting a statement every day. Then I would stop myself because I just wouldn’t know what to say,” the 32-year-old Pakistani actress who made her Bollywood debut in Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees, this year, was quoted as saying.

She added that she understands where all the criticism came from. “It didn’t come from a place of hate. I’m not talking about the trolls but those who were genuinely disappointed to see those pictures. It’s the same disappointment that my nani or my mamoo would have felt seeing that. So even now when I meet an older lady who says that she didn’t like the pictures, I’m quick to apologise,” she asserted.

Mahira stated that people often ask her if she is a good role model for her fans and her response is, “I am a good role model but I’m not the perfect role model. I am human, I make mistakes. And I was really happy to see that there were so many people who stood up for me. It goes to show that the narrative in Pakistan is changing, and if nothing else, I’m happy to have been part of that narrative,” she reiterated.