Sonam Kapoor was definitely the talk of the town in Jaipur. From autorickshaw drivers to market vendors, everybody had one question, “Sonam Kapoor aayi hai kya aaj? (Has Sonam Kapoor come today?)” She participated in Jaipur Literature Festival and released Anupama Chopra’s book The Front Row. She also held a brief discussion with Chopra where she candidly discussed her relationship with media. During the talk, she said that gossips do not surface without any reason. “Ninety per cent of film journalism is following tabloid style. However, I have kept my personal life guarded since I have seen my father dealing with it. Now my brothers are facing it. But having said that I believe there’s no smoke without fire. A lot of times there’s a ‘bitchy actor or a bitchy actress’ who feed media. Media usually have valid sources. And if you are quoted wrong, there’s always social media for clarification. Media too need controversial stuff to sell copies,” she said.
She also spoke in favour ‘paid content’ in media. “Sometimes, a lot of what you say is lost in translations or TV channels edit the interview in a certain way and put a lot of background music to your byte. They change the question as well. So sometimes it pays to put your point across in a clearer fashion so that it doesn’t get lost,” she said. Sonam is active on social media and often shares her opinions on Internet. However, she calls herself ‘conservative’ and ‘orthodox’ when it comes to absorb media. “I am quite vocal on social media but newspapers are newspapers. I tend to read them when I wake up in morning. India is still reading newspapers,” she said.
Does she bother about negative news reports on her? “I’m ridiculously thin-skinned. I get stressed out mostly. But I’m living with it as it cannot be rosy all the time. It’s okay to have disagreements.”
She also gave one piece of advice to young journalists. “Do more research…Most of the film journalists are young people who do not have much experience. I don’t want to sound like I have persecution complex but they are rash, poke you and ask provocative questions. I don’t think that works. Then you say things which are not nice. So I think that can be curbed a little bit,” she said.
How do you take criticism? “I always have opinions. How can I let other people not have opinion on me? That would be hypocritical. If I put out something, then it has to be discussed. There are rare movies which are unanimously liked. Khoobsurat got variety of reviews and I never took critics’ words personally. I don’t take anything personal because everybody should be allowed to have opinions,” she said. Sonam’s latest Dolly Ki Doli has got decent reviews.
