Sanjay Leela Bhansali has faced criticism on social media after his production house, Bhansali Productions, shared pictures of Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan from their film ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ on the occasion of Karwa Chauth. The post featured the former couple, who played the lead roles in the 1999 romantic drama. However, the choice of pictures did not go down well with Aishwarya’s fans, who questioned the decision in view of her troubled past with Salman and her earlier allegations of physical abuse against him.Sharing the photographs on Instagram, the production house wrote, “Kuch tasveerein, kuch yaadein aur mohabbat ka ek khoobsurat afsana! Happy Karwa Chauth.” The post soon attracted criticism, with several Reddit users expressing their displeasure over using pictures of the two actors to mark a festival associated with marital love and togetherness.One user criticised the people behind the post, writing, “Whoever used these (social media interns or Bhansali’s PR) is scum for using these pics for Karva Chauth. May they rot in hell. They knew what they were doing.” Another commented, “…Disgusting to see this.” A third wrote, “Bhansali, it’s done, bro.”Other reactions included, “Shameless beings on the planet,” “Peak ragebaiting,” and “The audacity they have to post these two people, particularly. Bollywood sucks for a reason.” Another user called the post “disgusting and pure evil.”Some Reddit users also questioned whether the move was intended to generate publicity. One comment read, “This is just attention farming by Bhansali Productions. Now, because of this, more people will talk about Bhansali, which is helpful since Love and War is coming out in 2 months.” Others reacted with comments such as “So sick to post these. Idiots” and “Absolute trash.”For the unversed, Aishwarya had previously spoken about her relationship with Salman after their separation, accusing him of infidelity and physical abuse. In an earlier interview with The Times of India, she had said, “After we broke up, he (Salman) would call me and talk rubbish. There were times when Salman got physical with me, luckily without leaving any marks. And I would go to work as if nothing had happened.”Salman has consistently denied the allegations. During an interview with journalist Prabhu Chawla, he was asked about the accusations and claimed that nobody could withstand the intensity of his punches. He demonstrated this by banging on a table with considerable force, arguing that someone subjected to such physical violence would not tolerate it.He also addressed the allegations on another occasion, claiming that Aishwarya would not have been able to “survived” in a physical fight against him.
