Katrina Kaif is once again in the eye of a storm, this time for comparing her half-Indian lineage to that of Congress scion Rahul Gandhi. Naturally, Indian knee-jerk reacting politicos have left no stone unturned in bullying the star into making an official apology for deigning to compare herself to the Congress leader.
In an interview two days ago, replying to a question on her being half-Indian, the actress reacted saying, “People are insinuating that there is something wrong in it! Please understand that I am not — I assure you, I promise you — I am not the only half Asian, half British person alive on this planet! My passport copies are with every news channel in this country — don’t ask me how they got them. Everyone has my name, which is my mother’s name, on the passport. It’s never been hidden, that, or my date of birth, or where I was born — I was born in Hong Kong, for all those who’ve missed that part of the breaking news — and I just find it so funny. Am I supposed to be ashamed that I am half Asian, half European? I mean, no! Rahul Gandhi is half Indian, half Italian. So? I am very proud of what I am and I just don’t understand the confusion — as if I’m trying to hide the fact that my mother’s British. Why would I?”
The Congress reacted sharply to Katrina’s remarks describing Rahul Gandhi’s obvious lineage. “Who is she? I do not know. Tomorrow, you will ask for our reaction on the statement of Johny Lever. To what level you want to bring down the level of the political discourse in the country?” party spokesperson Manish Tewari said to a media outlet.
It is reported that Katrina got calls from Delhi once the interview appeared, and was told not to talk about Rahul Gandhi, least of all compare himself to her. She soon apologised saying, “I think the statement has been taken out of context, but if I have hurt anyone’s sentiments, I’m extremely sorry. I request the media not to make any controversy out of that, because it’s not the way the statement was made at all.”
Katrina hasn’t exactly been in the party’s good books after “Raajneeti”, in which her character had similarities to that of Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Not only did she dress like Sonia, there were also reports how she watched tapes of the Congress President to get her walk and mannerisms down pat. Her role in the film was controversial, and this didn’t win her any brownie points with the party.
