The Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund, and a tenured professor of Economics at Harvard, Gita Gopinath, has become the talk of Twitter after Amitabh Bachchan referred to Gopinath as a woman "with such a beautiful face that no one can relate her to the economy."
Bachchan was introducing her in his show -- 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' in a question to the guest when he made the controversial statements.
The IMF chief took to Twitter to share the video clip of Bachchan asking the guest which organizaton the person on the screen has been working for. He said, "The economist seen in this image has been the chief economist of which organisation since 2019."
Followed by "she has such a beautiful face that no one can relate her to the economy (sic)".
Gopinath shared the tweet in good light stating "Ok, I don't think I will ever get over this. As a HUGE fan of Big B @SrBachchan, the Greatest of All Time, this is special!"
Responding to Gopinath's tweet, Bacchan wrote, "Thank you Gita Gopinath ji. I meant every word I said about you on the show. Said in utmost earnestness".
But Twitterati were split between whether the statement was sexist or passable.
While one user named Jaideep Mehta, @jaideep400 wrote, "So sad that he just had to mention your looks while pointing to your earned achievement. Bet you he wouldn't have made a mention if, say, @raghuramrajan or @kaushikcbasu were on the screen. Anyway, congratulations to you @GitaGopinath: keep the flag flying high!"
Another named Namita Gidwani, @namita_gidwani said, "I didn’t like the comment about linking beauty with brains. Stupid of Mr. Bachchan to suggest that beautiful women can’t be economists."
One user Ajith Mathew, @ajithm69, tweeted, "Call him out for his misogyny, than praising a spineless below average actor."
And to tickle the funny bones, one user wrote, @indomorphic wrote, "*Insert Santoor soap advertisement concept* "Itna khoobsurat chehra, economy ke saath koi jod hi nahi sakta".
But huge support also came by the Bollywood mughal, with many saying that these statements should not always be taken in a "negative light".
One Twitter user responded to @jaideep400, "the question is to identify the face, how would he "enlist her achievements" If the idea is to "identify" And eke the answer out from the contestant?"
Another user ਕਿਸਾਨ کسان Kisan किसान @AJSB05, in support of Bachchan, wrote, "What I feel is v have lost taking things in lighter vein It's not necessary to go nitpicking every time One may not intend to mean the same which we conclude it to be, let's become humane again let's laugh a little. At least smile a little let's try. I'm sure we will feel better."
One person @sreenipai said that things should not always be taken ina literal note and expressed that controversy for everything is sad. He added, "Kudos to Ms Gita who took it in the right spirit. Finding meaning between the lines and articulating it is unproductive.
P. S.Aishwarya was miss world, Controversy Ends here"