By Arré Bench Oct. 26, 2020
It was not long ago that Bollywood actor Sonu Sood was hailed as the “Messiah of Migrants” during the coronavirus lockdown. However, the philanthropist-actor is now facing backlash, and the same social media that made him a humanitarian role model has started demonising him. It started with a politicisation of his efforts, which has now spiralled into raising questions about the “help” being provided by him, with many labelling it a PR activity.
It was not long ago that Bollywood actor Sonu Sood was hailed as the “Messiah of Migrants”. During the coronavirus lockdown, he single-handedly helped thousands of migrants reach home when the state administration was struggling with the issue. Over the course of the next few months, he continued to provide food packets, access to timely healthcare and educational equipment to those in need. Sonu Sood became a real-life “hero” for a lot of people, got a lot of love from social media, and almost created a new fanbase for himself overnight.
@SonuSood @Karan_Gilhotra Brothers Thank you for the selfless seva during this pandemic. Plz do continue your fight against the evil… #HappyDussehra 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/UDCcrhvPCI
— Vatsal Sheth (@shethvatsal) October 25, 2020
As @SonuSood is recognised with a major global UN award, here’s 60 minutes to help you understand him- The Story of #SonuSood– his motivation, source of funding, political (or not) ambitions, and his take on the film industry crisis. Up now on @themojo_in https://t.co/Et6olWCx8G
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) September 29, 2020
However, the philanthropist-actor is now facing backlash, and the same social media that made him a humanitarian role model has started demonising him. It started with a politicisation of his efforts, and has now spiralled into raising questions about the “help” being provided by him, with many labelling it as PR activity.
On Sunday, the actor promised medical help to Twitter user Snehal Misal, whose son is affected by pulmonary stenosis. He promised her that her son would be admitted to SRCC Hospital in Mumbai the next day, and his surgery would be scheduled this week. Some social media users found this “fishy”, since that was the only tweet from the account and Sonu Sood hadn’t been tagged in the tweet.
New twitter A/c
Only 2-3 followers
One Tweet
Never tagged Sonu Sood
No location mentioned
No contact details
No email addressBut Sonu Sood somehow found the Tweet and offered help.
Most of the earlier handles who sought help deleted their tweets
This is how PR team works https://t.co/6kD4igeHfI
— Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree) October 25, 2020
1) This account joined Twitter in October 2020 (i.e., THIS month).
2) Has only tweeted once.
3) Has not tagged “Sonu Sir”All I can say is I hope Snehal’s son gets better soon. pic.twitter.com/tjSrOVbiKt
— Kartikeya Tanna (@KartikeyaTanna) October 25, 2020
Sonu Sood was quick to point out that it was about “intentions” and the whole point of his initiative was that even someone with 2-3 followers could get help from a man with lots of followers. The actor also shared a screengrab of an Excel sheet, which listed down names of people who needed help.
That’s the best part brother.I find a needy & they somehow find me. It’s about
“INTENTIONS”, but u won’t understand.Tom patient will be in SRCC Hospital kindly do ur bit. Send some fruits for him.Someone with 2-3 followers will be happy to get some love from a man with followers https://t.co/f7Hhqrv95X pic.twitter.com/sObQBJdUuO— sonu sood (@SonuSood) October 25, 2020
While many came to the actor’s defence and stated that he doesn’t need to explain himself, few people took further issue with the screengrab, stating that the timestamp in the Excel file was a month prior to the actual tweet. Some asked whether the person was forced to make a Twitter account so Sonu Sood could reply to him to collect brownie points. As long as he is out there helping people and bringing tangible changes into their lives, how does it matter?
What’s this? Why 25/09 instead of 25/10?
1 month pichhe chal rhe ho kya sir @SonuSood ? https://t.co/TjtBhjJoc6 pic.twitter.com/8JzeBFWocA
— BALA (@erbmjha) October 25, 2020
This is not the first time eyebrows have been raised over Sonu Sood’s help efforts. In the first week of June, some users pointed out that many accounts that sought help from the actor, and to whom he had replied, had mysteriously gone missing from the platform. Apparently, hundreds of such accounts had been deleted and Sonu Sood was trolled in relation to it on social media.
So all these people who Sonu Sood tweeted to were fake? (Accounts deleted) pic.twitter.com/Umsbienwgc
— Ravi Ratan (@scribe_it) June 7, 2020
In an interview to The Quint, Sonu Sood said, “I feel a lot of people have already reached their destinations and received the help, and since their numbers are on social media they were probably receiving calls. So I think that’s why some were deleted, so that the numbers don’t stay on the internet. Secondly, there are a lot of people who just want to check and when they get a call from us, they delete the tweets saying that we just wanted to get in touch with you.”
Speaking to @deekshay_, @SonuSood explains why a lot of people who had reached out for his help on social media had deleted their tweets.https://t.co/XPrgP1gTzV
— The Quint (@TheQuint) June 8, 2020
Sonu Sood requested people to send requests that were only genuine and also called out some fake accounts seeking monetary donations in his name. He pointed out that this hampers their operation and ability to help those actually in need.
Kindly don’t fall in any trap. Their are many fakes trying to take the advantage. So please report to the nearest police station. 🙏 अगर आपसे कोई भी आदमी पैसा माँगता है तो उस के बारे में तुरंत सूचित करें। हमारी यह सेवा निशुल्क है 🙏 pic.twitter.com/C8LeYHCVhN
— sonu sood (@SonuSood) June 8, 2020
Sonu Sood’s efforts are recorded on camera, and attested to by many people who received them first-hand. But we are now suspect of anyone who tries to help and doesn’t have an “underlying motive” to it. He was a hero until he shared a critical cartoon, and then the questioning and demonising began. “Why is he going out of his way to help? What is he gaining from this? Is this his entry to politics?”
It might seem like a radical idea but maybe, he has the resources, and he just wants to genuinely help.
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