Actor-politician Khushbu Sundar and filmmaker-actor Sundar C’s daughters Avantika and Anandita grew up in the public eye thanks to their parents’ fame. Their younger daughter, Anandita, who worked as a creative producer on the upcoming Tamil film Double Occupancy, recently got married to Merchant Navy officer Shravan Sreenivasan. Both daughters have faced trolling for their looks, and Khushbu has now penned a strongly worded statement in this regard, addressing trolls and saying that ‘do not think me being quiet means I am fine with your dirty pathetic mindset’.
‘We are extremely proud of our children’
Taking to her X account, Khushbu wrote, “This is my family. Built on love, trust and understanding. We have struggled, worked hard through our bones, bled and sweated out to be where we are today. We might have faltered, failed, tripped and fallen too at times, but we have never failed to fight back with vigour and succeed yet again. We raised our children with care, never allowing them to get swayed away by success or take an advantage of being celebrity children. Never ever they have taken an advantage of who they are. We are extremely proud of our children.”
She added, “I as a mother cannot and won’t let any Tom, dick and harry insult, disrespect or use them for 2 minute cheap publicity. Their mentality is so crude, 3rd rated and crass and it clearly reflects their upbringing. I would like to give it back in the same language and manner as they do but I won’t. I wont disrespect my mother and her upbringing. But do not think me being quiet means I am fine with your dirty pathetic mindset. Never mess with a mother. Remember a mother is a wounded tiger who will pounce and kill to protect her cubs. And this message is not for some 3rd rated jerk who has gone out and use my kids and my family to gain few followers and laughs. This is very clear message to all the so called youtubers too who sit and talk about us for a packet of green notes so that they can feed their families.”
“Enough is enough. If we don’t speak for ourselves today, these morons will walk over us. What they don’t know is the strength we have within ourselves is not bought, but earned. To every woman out here, stand up for yourself. When others fail respect you, give a damn. Learn to respect yourself. Never ever allow others to insult you. Thank you @realradikaa for always being there. As a friend and family,” she concluded.
‘I condemn this kind of conduct’
Meanwhile, Radhikaa shared a picture with the family and wrote, “Freedom of speech is not freedom to bully. Criticism is not cruelty. Humour is not humiliation.
Mocking a public figure’s daughters is not comedy — it is cowardice. Looks are not an achievement or a failure. Character is. I stand with Khushbu and her daughters. I condemn this kind of conduct from anyone, anywhere.”
Last month, Anandita spoke on a podcast about how she has been trolled from a very young age and the effect it had on her. She then revealed that the latest ‘insult’ she seemed to face was being called a ‘transperson’. “See, I think transgender people are beautiful. Right? I think they’re great, I think they’re so nuanced and beautiful. And I know many transgender people who are just the sweetest, kindest people I’ve ever met in my life. But when I open Instagram, people’s favourite ‘insult’ to use with me is that I look like a trans person. So, this is not only mean to me. You’re also homophobic. You’re also ignorant,” she said.
Anandita is 23 years old and has worked with Mani Ratnam before for Ponniyin Selvan 2 and Thug Life. She debuted as a creative producer in Double Occupancy, directed by Aswin Kandasamy, and produced by Khushbu and ACS Arun Kumar. The film was released in theatres on June 12. She is also working on Hiphop Tamizha Adhi’s Meesaya Murukku 2, a sequel to his 2017 semi-biopic.