Newsmaker: Rishi Kapoor

Indulging in online activism

Rishi Kapoor, who in recent years has taken to portraying offbeat characters, appears to be experimenting just as enthusiastically with Twitter's140 characters.

In a case of a member of the first family of Hindi cinema going after the first family of Indian politics, the 63-year-old took digs at the Nehru-Gandhis through a series of tweets this week. Kapoor, son of India's showman Raj Kapoor and father of Ranbir Kapoor, questioned why so many structures had been named after members of the Gandhi clan, and suggested that "Congress assets" be renamed.

The actor has 1.08 million followers. His tweets were shared thousands of times and, as is common on the microblogging website, it resulted in a barrage of positive and negative responses. "We must name important assets of the country (after) those who have contributed to society. Har cheez Gandhi ke naam? I don't agree," he wrote. Instead of Rajiv Gandhi, the Bandra/Worli sea link should be named after Lata Mangeshkar or JRD Tata, according to the actor. And Film City should get its name from Dev Anand or Dilip Kumar. While he found support from industry friend Anupam Kher who said it required "courage" to air such views, several others online expressed doubts over the actor's motives.

Going by his tweets, Kapoor is seemingly not a stickler for punctuation or reticence. While celebrities typically use Twitter to make announcements about work or interact with fans, Kapoor has a no-holds-barred approach. He shares rare Bollywood photos, conducts pop quizzes, and offers opinions on current affairs in ways that might make his publicists sweat. The tweets are peppered with Hindi, and several of them end with an invitation for followers to join in his discussion- for instance,"what say?" or "socho" (think about it)."

In interviews last year, his son Ranbir said that Twitter and his father were made for each other. "He can be really funny and controversial also. And I guess people like that. They don't want to see politically correct people and my father is the most politically incorrect person." Ranbir himself prefers to stay away from social media. "You say something and there are so many interpretations. Now, why should I take this extra headache of saying something, and then holding a press conference where I have to explain and clarify?"

The senior Kapoor's unfettered frankness was on ample display last year. He commented on the beef ban in Mumbai. "I am angry. Why do you equate food with religion?? I am a beef eating Hindu. Does that mean I am less God fearing then a non eater? Think!!" He added that he equally enjoyed eating pork. "By the way, I love my pork chops too like a lot of my Muslim friends who have a likewise thinking Laugh when you equate food with religion."

Last May, the actor nearly quit Twitter, saying there was too much "negativity, abusive language and disregard for seniors." This was soon after he expressed grief at a Mumbai court verdict convicting actor Salman Khan in a hit-and-run case, but also lashed out at some of his supporters including singer Abhijit who tweeted that the accident victims were to blame. Those comments led to Kapoor "trolled" or criticised. However, the actor was back in action on the microblogging site the very next day. Like so many others, it would appear Kapoor too is addicted to Twitter.