The recently released Ibrahim Ali Khan and Khushi Kapoor-starrer Nadaaniyan met with criticism, with many social media users mocking the lead actors’ acting skills as well as the film’s dialogues. Actor Jugal Hansraj, who played Ibrahim’s father in the film, has defended the newcomers.

Talking about the trolling that Khushi and Ibrahim faced after the release of the film, Jugal told India Today Digital, “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. 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”.

Jugal asserted that actors in earlier times didn’t face such scrutiny because of the absence of social media. “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.”

Taking Ibrahim and Khushi’s example, Jugal adds, “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. I’m obviously not in favour of that kind of critics”.