Twinkle Khanna brushes aside Social media trolls as cockroaches

Known for penchant for controversy and frank opinion on anybody, actor-writer-producer Twinkle Khanna has just brushed aside trolls in social media describing them as cockroaches.

Speaking at a panel discussion "Social Media Trolling on Social Platforms", organised ahead of OSM Awards, Twinkle Khanna told media that the social media trolls are like cockroaches and one should not take them seriously. "They do that to everybody and people who take trolls seriously, I’d rather say are foolish. Trolls are like cockroaches, once in a while, you spray hit on them and get them out of the way but you go on," she said.

However, she was cautious to add that she takes criticism carefully. "I do look at criticism and examine it carefully as sometimes it is valid and it always tells me about the world around me."

Gul Panag, who has also been targeted several times on social media, echoed similar views as her political allegiance and strong viewpoints have often attracted threats. Gul said, "The moment you take a position, you set yourself up for an attack; either from people, who disagree with you or people who just don’t like the fact that you have taken a position because traditionally women, especially those who belong to film industry, are not entitled to have an opinion. A woman having an opinion was discouraged outside and within the industry, but it is changing now."

OSM awards this year have seen people from film and media industries, digital platform, culinary, fashion, politics, sports, among others, nominated under various categories. The list for 2018 includes Twinkle’s husband actor Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Varun Dhawan, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Shah Rukh Khan, Alia Bhatt, Diljit Dosanjh, Karan Johar, and others. The award ceremony will be held on on April 20.