“How do you come back from society which is fractured?” asks Nakuul Mehta

Nakuul Mehta finds the social media trial of SSR’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty extremely disturbing moreso, because people are getting mileage out of the case

“Instead of talking about job losses, the sinking GDP or high number of cases daily- everyone is taking a piece of someone who passed away,” says actor Nakuul Mehta, who is known not only for his sense of humour but also his social commentary on social media.

Nakuul finds it appalling and terrible that social media is so divided.

Talking about the “media circus” and social media trial of the late actor, Sushant Singh Rajput’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, and how the news channels have been covering the proceedings, he says, “I understand that the media covering the investigation is a business but we are losing sight of the fact that it is a human under investigation. This social media trial is extremely disturbing for me. In our country, we are battling a number of issues. We will soon be number one in Covid-19 cases, industries are opening up as the economy is in the dumps and it is easy to deflect issues.”

He finds it appalling and terrible that social media is so divided. “People are hashtagging mental health to get mileage and make their brand stronger. I feel the lowest point, for us, hasn’t been the pandemic but it is how human beings have literally become vultures. We will have a vaccine for Covid-19 and we’ll go back to better times but how do you come back from a society which is fractured? In 2020, social media is adding to the hatred and dividing people. There are liberals on one side and extremists on the other. I don’t know where I belong or why I need to be in a box. The Left needs an issue to burn daily, and the Right needs a hashtag to cash in. I sometimes question my own value system. We are losing our humanity to put out a point every day. I have known people to be better than this. What has happened to us?”

The only way he can deal with it is by not staying quiet, he believes. “I don’t want to get into a fight or virtue call anyone but if we don’t stand up for humanity, you are actually on the other side. That’s where from the poem Giddh came from,” he says, mentioning a poem he recited on Instagram that talked about humans becoming vultures. “Everyone is on a hunt to find a villain. We forgot to give respect to the person whom we lost. I feel helpless and angry and I don’t know who to blame. If standing up means being trolled, at times, then I need to find ways by not countering hate by hate but by being compassionate with words and storytelling,” he signs off.