CHENNAI: Actor Meera Chopra of Bangaram-fame was the victim of social media trolling and was subject to abuse and name-calling on Twitter, allegedly by Jr NTR fans. This hate campaign began after Meera claimed she was not a fan of the Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava actor.
On Tuesday afternoon, the actor did an interactive session, under the hashtag AskMeerra, on Twitter where she was asked to name her favourite actor in Telugu cinema, among other questions.
Responding to a user asking her to describe Jr NTR in one word, Meera tweeted, "I don't know him...I am not his fan."
Another Twitter user asked her to watch NTR's films Shakti (2011) and Dammu (2012) and said she would become his fan after watching these films, to which Meera replied, "Thank you but not interested."
Her candid responses led to a barrage of swearing and vitriolic harassment from Jr NTR fans.
Responding to these hate-tweets, Meera questioned Jr NTR about the actions of his alleged fans. :
"I didnt know that i'll be called a bitch, whore and a pornstar, just bcoz I like @urstrulyMahesh more then you. And your fans will send my parents such wishes. Do u feel successful with such a fan following? And i hope u dont ignore my tweet!!"
Meanwhile, playback singer Chinmayi Sripada came out in support of Meera on the issue. She asked the actor to submit the abusive screenshots and write a letter to The National Commission for Women (NCW) and Twitter to initiate action against the abusive trolls.
"There were thousands that said the same when I said I liked a movie. Been there. Ask some of your followers to send you screenshots with meanings of the words in English, take screenshots. Draft a letter and send it to"
Meera made a collage of screenshots and requested the Hyderabad police and cyber crimes cell to take action against the cyberbullying.
Meera once again tagged Jr NTR to question him over the unchecked behaviour of his fans who were "spoiling the name of their idol."
"Well i didnt know not being somebodys fan was a crime.. i want to say this loud to all the girls that if you are not a fan of @tarak9999 , u could be raped, murdered, gangraped, ur parents could be killed as tweeted by his fans. They r totally spoiling the name of their idol."
The actor stood her ground against the trolls and said "she is not one to get scared of their threats."
Soon, support started pouring in for the actor, and #WeSupportMeeraChopra began trending on Twitter. After making her stance loud and clear about cyber-bullying and trolling, Meera, who was recently seen in the Hindi film, Section 375, said: Thank you each one of you for supporting me. Lets make this place safe for women and take down those losers who abuse and give death threats. Lets raise our voice against #womenabuse #rape #pedophilia #hooliganism.
Jr NTR is yet to respond to the issue.
(This article originally appeared in cinemaexpress.com)