Mumbai: After facing online criticism for her Cannes appearances, Aishwarya Rai found support from her ‘Devdas’ co-star Madhuri Dixit.
The veteran actor defended Aishwarya against trolls, saying that a global star who has made her country proud with her achievements cannot be judged or reduced to “a number on a scale.”
Aishwarya was trolled and body-shamed after photos and videos from the 2026 Cannes red carpet went viral on social media.
“She has been going there for 20 years. She has done the whole country proud. She is a global star. As a Miss World, she has done so much for the country. You cannot reduce her to a number on a scale or a number on the dress or the size or a number on the calendar years. You cannot reduce her to that. She is beautiful. She looks beautiful but she is beautiful inside,” Madhuri said.
Criticising the online negativity surrounding Aishwarya’s looks, Madhuri said, “I think people have to realise that when you do these kinds of comments, what kind of message are you sending to the youngsters today? That your worth is on how you look, not on your achievements. I think this is a completely wrong message being sent.”
Not only Aishwarya, Ananya Panday was also targeted by netizens after ‘Chand Mera Dil’ hit theatres.
A dance sequence combining Bharatanatyam and hip-hop quickly went viral, some viewers felt the fusion did not do justice to the classical form.
As per Madhuri, social media has become a place where people freely pass comments on everything around them.
“Even earlier, there were people like that. Those who comment, they didn’t have a means to comment. But today, they have the means,” Madhuri remarked.
Triptii Dimri, Madhuri’s co-star in the upcoming Netflix film ‘Maa Behen’, had a similar view.
“It’s very easy to sit at home in your comfortable pyjamas and comment on people. But being in their shoes, those who have worked hard to achieve something, whether it’s Ananya or Aishwarya ma’am, they both worked hard in their lives. They are achievers,” Triptii said.
Having faced online trolling herself for her performances and professional choices, Triptii opened up about the pressure and anxiety of putting work out for public scrutiny. “You do feel anxious. You’ve done something. You’ve spent time, your efforts. Just like in school, after giving an exam, you would get anxious. So it’s the same feeling. But of course, when it’s about your work, whether it’s good or bad, that is acceptable,” she said.
“It’s the audience’s right to comment on your work because they are paying to watch it. But when they connect it to something else, that’s what irritates me,” she added.
Madhuri noted that while film criticism has always existed in the industry, it is now often driven by the need to create content.
“Even then when films used to release every Friday, shaam tak chittha aa jata tha. So it was like, ‘what’s going to happen now?’ Whether it’s good, bad or whatever it is, they used to write. But what has happened now is that as soon as a movie starts, it starts from there. Because digital media is such that they need content. They want content for every little thing,” Madhuri said.
“You want to make a film in peace. And you want to make that film and bring it to people. But this is the time we are in where if you call, you get a thing in 10 minutes. If you do it like this , in three seconds you decide that you don’t want to see it. So that’s the world we are in. You have to just accept that and move ahead,” she added.
‘Maa Behen’, which also features influencer Dharna Durga and Ravi Kishan in key roles, is slated to hit theatres on Netflix on June 4.
