On August 5, actor/producer Farhan Akhtar congratulated the women’s hockey team for bringing medal after men in a blue secured bronze medal in the match against Germany. In the now-deleted tweet, he wrote, “Go girls!! So proud of #TeamIndia for showing exemplary fighting spirit and bringing in our 4th medal. Super stuff.”
People mocked Akhtar for the blunder. Some netizens pointed out that Akhtar had played the role of athletes in his movies, especially since a movie based on the life of a boxer titled Toofan was released recently. Earlier, he had played the role of legendary athlete Milkha Singh in Bhag Milkha Bhag. With such movies in the kitty, one may not expect him to make such blunders.
Twitter users questioned the rush to wish athletes and pointed out how he had earlier joined anti-CAA protests ‘because so many people were there’.
https://twitter.com/OpenmindedBigot/status/1423155507305467907?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwHe was also mocked and compared with Bollywood entertainer Alia Bhatt for whom general knowledge isn’t much of a strong point.
https://twitter.com/coolfunnytshirt/status/1423153134390583296?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwHe was also mocked at for mixing up athletes even though he has played role of Olympic winner himself in a movie.
https://twitter.com/GabbbarSingh/status/1423153454315294721?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwSome Twitter users aptly caught everyone’s reaction on Akhtar’s faux pas.
https://twitter.com/Saffronkoffee/status/1423159346272169986?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwLater, Akhtar published another tweet saying, “So proud of #teamIndia for showing exemplary fighting spirit and bringing in our 4th medal.. super stuff. #Tokyo2020 #Hockey.”
https://twitter.com/FarOutAkhtar/status/1423151305116340225?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwThis time, however, Akhtar did not mention the gender of the winning team.