MUMBAI: After visuals of Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone at the JNU campus went viral, #BoycottChhapaak began to trend on Twitter. Chhapaak, which is based on acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal’s story, has Deepika in the lead and is set for release on Friday.

Though Deepika did not speak at the gathering in JNU or shout slogans, she reportedly told the JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh that she was proud of her. She was also present when former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, who contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls on a CPI ticket, made his speech. A few days ago a few masked men entered the premises of the college and attacked the teachers and students there.

Deepika is the highest-paid Indian woman actor. She was also the first woman to enter the top five of Forbes richest Indian celebs list (2018). However, she was accused of going to JNU to promote her film, with a leading new channel even running the hashtag #JNUFilmPromotion.

Despite the backlash, several people also extended their support to her and Chhapaak. Hashtags like #ISupportDeepika, #IStandWithDeepika and #ChhapakDekhoTapaakSe (Watch Chhapaak fast/promptly) also trended and it was these hash tags that were trending on high numbers.

While Bollywood women actors like Shabana Azmi, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Taapsee Pannu, Swara Bhasker, Twinkle Khanna and others have been tweeting about the JNU attack, very few male actors have unequivocally condemned the attack.