Mahira Khan shamed for smoking with Ranbir Kapoor. Ali Zafar and fans come to her support

Mahira Khan has received a lot of flak for smoking in a backless dress with Ranbir Kapoor but her fans have taken it upon themselves to shoo the haters away.

Pakistani actor Mahira Khan met Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor in New York in July but the photos from their meeting made their way on to the internet on Thursday. Since then, there are only two things anyone could care about: the actors’ alleged affair and how Mahira was seen smoking in a backless dress.

Ranbir Kapoor and Mahira Khan’s viral photos are from July. (Twitter)

While most are hopeful of a budding romance between the two, the ‘haya (shame) brigade’ has taken it upon itself to shower Mahira with unwarranted judgement over her dress and lifestyle habits. They are accusing her of “destroying Islam” and challenging her to “be herself” in her home country. Here’re some examples of the hate she has received:

The moral policing did not sit well with the actor’s fans who unleashed their fury on the haters. They called out people for their double standards at shaming Mahira for smoking when a male actor was literally inches away from her, doing the same thing. They also attacked trolls for criticising Mahira’s dress. A few also reminded everyone how Mahira isn’t the docile Khirad she plays in her hit TV soap Humsafar.

Actor and singer Ali Zafar also wrote at length about people’s bigotry:

These are just a few of the several supportive tweets sent out to Mahira by her fans. She must be very proud of her fandom.

As for the photos, Ranbir’s father, actor Rishi Kapoor, has said that his son is young and free to meet with anyone. “Ranbir is a young star, he is unmarried, he’s a bachelor. He can meet anybody whoever he wants to, and if people are going to invade in his privacy, it’s not done. And I can’t say anything about all this because he’s a young man and he has the choice of meeting any girl,” he said in an interview to HT City.

Ranbir and Mahira met in March in Dubai during the Global Teacher Prize event and their pictures and videos from the event went viral. In one video, they were seen talking animatedly, which people interpreted as a lovers’ tiff. However, sources close to both had dismissed rumours of an affair.

Ranbir is currently working on his Sanjay Dutt biopic and a superhero film with Alia Bhatt, Dragon. Mahira is awaiting the release of her latest film, Verna.

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