Being a celebrity is tough. Imagine celebrating a personal achievement or marrying someone as a famous personality. It always comes with hate, duh! And if you happen to be a woman, it is doubly so. Recently, Nagarjuna Akkineni, a veteran actor, took to X to share and bless the engagement of his son Chaitanya Akkineni and Sobhita Dhulipala.  The internet did not disappoint with its blame games and troll comments. Is it any surprise, though, that Nagarjuna’s congratulatory post was accompanied by unwanted hatred towards Sobhita?

Sobhita isn’t the first woman to get the hate for choosing love or getting married. In 2021, when Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu got divorced, she too was a victim of online trolling. She was judged for choosing roles that didn’t comply with Nagarjuna’s traditional family values and was even accused of asking for a large sum in alimony. A girl can never live in peace, can she? Now, when Sobhita and Chaitanya got engaged three years after Chay’s divorce, she couldn’t escape the fire either. Why does supporting someone online come with robbing the other person’s integrity?

“We are delighted to announce the engagement of our son, Naga Chaitanya, to Sobhita Dhulipala, which took place this morning at 9:42 a.m.!!
We are overjoyed to welcome her into our family.
Congratulations to the happy couple!
Wishing them a lifetime of love and happiness. 💐… pic.twitter.com/buiBGa52lD

— Nagarjuna Akkineni (@iamnagarjuna) August 8, 2024

All eyes on Sobhita  

Social media is filled with comments calling Sobhita Dhulipala a “homewrecker” while sympathising with Samantha. It’s funny how Naga Chaitanya doesn’t get any flak if there was even an affair. After all, if there was infidelity, it’s not Sobhita who should be blamed, but because she is a woman, people are quick to vilify her. A few people have commented, “Samantha is far better than you” or “Samantha deserves better”. When the involved parties don’t care, why does the internet? Are any of these commenters marrying any of these celebrities? Sure, celebrities choose to be in the limelight, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have the right to choose what’s best for them or how to lead their lives. Being in the spotlight doesn’t mean that they become internet puppets, compromising their privacy and dignity to the public.

Samantha or Sobhita are not the only ones sacrificing their image in this hate campaign. Recent controversies around Hardik-Natasa’s divorce and that of Sanjeeda Sheikh and Aamir Ali during the success of Heeramandi are further proof of how people always blame women for a broken marriage or divorce. A woman’s mere existence is judged. Moreover, married women are even held accountable for their partner’s actions. Remember when people blamed Anushka Sharma for Virat Kohli’s poor performance on the cricket field? Obviously, it had nothing to do with the latter’s skills but definitely Anushka’s presence as a spectator. 

We as a society need to step up and support our women in all of their achievements and setbacks. Questioning her potential and defaming her personality reveals our nature as a society. It’s high time we realise that ‘a woman is a human first’. Furthermore, we need to respect people’s decisions and choices because their lives are none of our business. When Samantha, Sobhita, and Chaitanya have moved on from their past, the internet should do so too. Hurling unnecessary insults at any of them will only spread negativity.

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