Recently, Adil Hussain’s “truth must be spoken tenderly” tweet led many to assume that it was a dig at director Vivek Agnihotri’s film, The Kashmir Files. And the actor says he was surprised by the confusion. “I wasn’t shocked with people’s response to my tweet. But it did come as a surprise to me that where did I go wrong,” confesses Hussain.

In his Twitter post, he wrote, “Truth must be spoken! No doubt about it. But must be spoken Tenderly. Else purpose of speaking the truth loses its beauty. And the impact is reactive. Not responsive. We, for sure, don’t want to fuel a reactive society but nourish a responve-sible one. Art Should not be reactive (sic),” following which he was brutally trolled.

He stresses, “I realised it was the most ill-timed tweet. In fact, I have never been so ill-timed in my life.” Looking back at what led to the post, the actor reveals, “I was having an intellectual discussion with someone about what art is to me, and that led to the post. But everyone assumed it was about the film.”

The English Vinglish (2012) actor took around two days to react to the trolls and clarify his stance: “While I was preoccupied with shoots, I wanted to respond [to what was being claimed], not react.” He adds, “Whenever we are angry, irritated or annoyed, we become lesser beings. And when we are larger, we are calm. That’s the space from where responding to something comes from. That’s why I took time to clarify my stance. More than anything, I was flummoxed by it all,” ends the 58-year-old actor.