'Social' impact: How Renuka Shahane went from being Ms Nice to Ms Vocal

Its 530 in the evening and we are dot on time for our interview with actress Renuka Shahane at a posh suburban club Still occupied in a meeting that we were forewarned about she answers our phone call but pushes in a request Could you please wait for five minutes When her engagement ends 20 minutes later the actress is sincerely apologetic and though not required makes it a point to explain what caused the holdup Shes the same person who a month ago refused to say sorry or cow down to loyal fans of actor Salman Khan when she created a stir with a Facebook post that questioned the Bollywood superstars acquittal in the chinkara poaching caseAlso Read Bollywood actresses slam Salman Khan for his raped woman commentThough film projects continue to keep Renuka Shahane busy the actress says she is more at home with her writing projectsPicNimesh DaveWhile the post won her over 10000 likes and more than 3100 shares with comments oscillating between brave woman to shame on you lady the Marathi actress tells us now in the most of matteroffact way It was just my opinion on my timelineAnd I have been doing that ever since I discovered social media way back in 2008 she informs I find Facebook a great platform to put my thoughts out Its not restrictive like Twitter where you have only 140 characters to say what you feel she saysRead Story Renuka Shahanes Facebook post on Indias obsession with fairness is a mustreadPicYogen ShahThat it took an antiKhan post to race the face of TVs most popular cultural show Surabhi back in the limelight is not lost on her People thought I was doing it for publicity she says Do I need it she asks and immediately follows it with an affirmative NoDespite a few acting projects that keep her busy 49yearold Shahane who is married to awardwinning actor Ashutosh Rana and is mother to two sons Shauryaman and Satyendra likes to describe herself as a fulltime homemaker and a content one at that too Having an opinion she says comes naturally to her thanks to her mother veteran writer theatre critic and journalist Shanta Gokhale Her core values of honesty nondiscrimination and independent thinking have passed down to me says ShahaneAlso Read Renuka Shahanes interview with a journalist will leave you in splitsOnly last week she made news again when she robustly opposed the use of fairness creams Achievement has nothing to do with the colour of any bodys skin So stop watching the regressive moronic simpering over madeup women amp their inconsequential irritating male counterparts in our daily soaps on tv amp get a reality check about what we as Indians have been achieving sic she wrote possibly taking a dig at her own fraternityHer views sometimes angry often thoughtprovoking have made her a talking point of late All we need today is for one post to go viral and then suddenly people watch out for what you have to say she says while referring to the Khan post But honestly I did not see this coming she insistsHere was an actress who had once played Khans doting bhabhi in the 1994 family drama Hum Aapke Hain Kaun and was now being openly critical about his acquittal when most of Bollywood was rallying around the actor This had nothing to do with Salman the actor she clarifies I have worked with him before and he is genuinely one of the most generous and kindest people I have met I was questioning the legal system The courts are one place where we expect justice but are we getting that Yes I asked if money had exchanged handsbut it is not the first time that anyone has asked these questionsshe saysWhile her views resonated with some Shahane wasnt prepared for the brickbats she received I get trolled on Twitter constantly and sometimes for the most harmless opinions People have something negative to say about the most positive of thingsHer trolls spiralled when she published her thoughts on the chinkara case on July 25 Salmans fans were so upset with me They said illogical things and took personal digs at me One person was extremely mean and called me a prostitute I had to register a complaint with Maneka Gandhi who only recently urged women harassed on social media to contact her directly on her Twitter handle she says The problem is that when you are a blind follower of anybody it results in being nasty towards anybody who might not conform to your viewshe saysHowever the issue here she says is being a woman and having an opinion People dont like intelligent women on social media especially Twitter she says Misogyny is the riding force I told my husband that if you had said the very thing that I said on Khan you wouldnt have been abused the way I was It is expected of men to have strong opinions but when it comes to a woman people can be down right nastyBut has it stopped her from voicing her thoughts Definitely not she says Why should you take sht from anybody My opinions are not uninformed and I seriously put a lot of thought into what I say I come from a family of writers and I write too I am not just the sweetsmiling person you see on screen You cant be quiet because you fear receiving a lot of flak Then social change will never happenThat brings us to what keeps Shahane busy these days Writing she smiles Shahane who wrote her first screenplay for the Marathi film Rita adapted from her mothers fiction is currently in the midst of writing the screenplay for an EnglishMarathi film which she intends to direct next year I manage to spare time for my writing after my kids go to school because once they are at home I am around them she says She just wrapped the Marathi show Comedychi Bullet Train where she was one of the judges But for now shed like to take it slow I am glad that I can articulate the serious part of me which is related to my mind she says Its nice to be appreciated and its okay to be not either