The hug that was heard/felt/seen around social media even nudged tweets out of Bollywood, not usually known to comment on political matters, as Parliament debated a no-confidence motion on Friday. Lok Sabha exploded when Congress chief Rahul Gandhi ended a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government by walking across to the PM and giving him a hug - in return, Mr Gandhi received a pat on the back. The hug promptly reverberated across Twitter where #RahulGandhi, 'Pappu,' #RahulHugsModi, #BhookampAaGaya and other hashtags trended all day. The hug has been captured for posterity on social media in the form of jokes, memes or simple opinion posts and, somewhat unexpectedly, a very tiny section of Bollywood chimed in as well.
Actor Rajkummar Rao played the opening shot, declaring it 'Hug Day.' His Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga co-star Sonam Kapoor swiftly reposted his tweet with two hug emoticons.
Here are Sonam and Rajkummar's tweets.
Today is official,"Hug day."
— Rajkummar Rao (@RajkummarRao) July 20, 2018
— Sonam K Ahuja (@sonamakapoor) July 20, 2018
Music composer Vishal Dadlani took a more serious route, commenting on the BJP's dismissal of Rahul Gandhi's hug as 'childish.'
What's childish about a hug? It was sorta sweet, actually. BJP should accept it with grace & perhaps send some love back, instead of being negative and churlish. Also, it would be more becoming of the govt. to answer each point Rahul made pre-hug. That's what we want to hear. https://t.co/Bl2gM8osPI
— VISHAL DADLANI (@VishalDadlani) July 20, 2018
Just three tweets from Bollywood - but, given that movie stars and the like generally reserve opinion on anything so current or political as parliamentary proceedings, it's a start. It's worth remembering that three years ago, Sonam Kapoor vowed to stick to fashion in her tweets after being trolled for wrongly using the word 'misogynistic' in a post criticising the meant ban in Maharashtra.
Meantime, 'Hug Day' proved popular with several Twitter users.
Read the tweets here.
Friday is #hugday #NoConfidenceMotion pic.twitter.com/NNMiB17S7S
— Mohd Waseem (@MohdWaseemlive) July 20, 2018
An officially declared "Hug Day" #NoConfidenceMotion #NoConfidencePolitics #JaaduKiJhappi #RahulKiJhappi #HugDay
— Huma Misgar (@huma_msgr) July 20, 2018
pic.twitter.com/EpYsLMmUU7
Today India should declare #HugDay #NoConfidenceMotion
— Yuvraj Jagtap (@YVJ87) July 20, 2018
Sanjay Dutt's 'jaadu ki jhappi' from the Munna Bhai MBBS films is also being gleefully referenced.
Rahul Gandhi's #JaaduKiJhappi will go down in history.
— Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) July 20, 2018
It is an epic gesture in times when hate, trolling, mob lynchings, communal polarization have become a common thing in the country.
Rahul Gandhi took lessons from Sanju too seriously. #jaadukijhappi #BhookampAaneWalaHai pic.twitter.com/hpPSFe8Ybk
— APS (@ashupshukla) July 20, 2018
That's not the only Bollywood joining of dots on the part of Twitter. In another cinematic reference, politician Baba Siddique's annual iftaar party, once the scene of a hug between then-enemies Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, was also invoked.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahaha ahahaha haha
— SUYOG (@itsSuyog_) July 20, 2018
This is hug is better and bigger but than SRK Salman hug #NoConfidenceMotion
Sonam Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao will be seen with the actress' father Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla in Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga, scheduled to release in September.
