Amitabh Bachchan's "Selfie" Jibe At Shobhaa De After Sindhu's Super Play

Keeping calm and carrying on wasn't an option for India last evening as badminton star P V Sindhu powered through to the women's singles final at the Rio Olympics. With everyone back home glued to the TV, Sindhu  beat Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in a nail-biting semi-final, earning herself an assured silver medal and a potential gold.

The proud moment for India was reflected on Twitter which erupted in joy, celebrating the 21-year-old shuttler's triumph. Among those tweeting was actor Amitabh Bachchan, among whose posts was this cleverly-worded tweet.
 

T 2352 - #PVSindhu .. aap "khaali haath" nahein, medal leke wapas aa rahein hain .. aur hum aapke saath 'selfie' nikalne chahate hain !!

- Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) August 18, 2016

It's not hard to join the dots and read the above post as a pointed dig at columnist Shobhaa De's tweet some days ago which called down upon her the wholesale wrath of social media in particular and the country in general.

Notice that Big B's tweet contains the words 'selfie' and 'khaali haath' - used in Ms De's tweet that upset so many.
 

Goal of Team India at the Olympics: Rio jao. Selfies lo. Khaali haat wapas aao. What a waste of money and opportunity.

- Shobhaa De (@DeShobhaa) August 8, 2016

Big B posted two other tweets about how Sindhu's result would silence those complaining - clearly also directed at Ms De, if not as pointed as the first tweet.
 

T 2352 - Never ever underestimate power of female gender ! #PVSindhu you have destroyed so many 'naysayers' .. you are the PRIDE of INDIA !

- Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) August 18, 2016

T 2352 - #PVSindhu ...aapne 'bolne walon' ki bolti bund kar di .. karm bolta hai aur wo kabhi kabhi 'kalam' ko bhi hara deta hai ! BADHAI !!

- Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) August 18, 2016

Burn!

Collectively, Big B's tweets have been retweeted over 18,000 times and have received more than 34,000 'likes.' "Creative writing at its best..polite but firm communication...legendary...," commented one Twitter user.

Amitabh Bachchan, 73, isn't the only celebrity to take a jibe at Shobhaa De. Cricket legend Virender Sehwag too tweeted along similar lines days ago when wrestler Sakshi Malik won India's first medal this Olympics.
 

#SakshiMalik ke gale me medal kitna "Sobha De" raha hai na !!! #HappyRakshaBandhan pic.twitter.com/5qnN0tbD4y

- Virender Sehwag (@Virendrsehwag) August 18, 2016

Bilkul , isliye Shobha Na De aise kaam nahi karne chahiye https://t.co/LDyEPGRQI1

- Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) August 18, 2016

*Bows in respect, chants: Go for gold, Sindhu*