Alia Bhatt Trolled On Her First Day Out Post Marriage For Not Looking Married Enough!

After last week’s frenzy of Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor's wedding, Bhatt has now been papped stepping out for the first time to rejoin work. She was spotted sporting a pink suit as she flaunted her huge diamond ring outside the Mumbai airport.

She looked perfect but no our netizens couldn’t keep quiet. Seeing her minimalistic look several people trolled her for ditching sindoor, chooda and mangalsutra for her first post-wedding look. While one user wrote, “Sindoor to h nhi Maang me kahe ki beautiful,” another wrote “Kahin se mew dulhan n lag rahi h is s behtar to Katrina thi”, another was downright rude and commented, “Dulhan ki mehendi itni chotisi? Shadi ki ya sirf formality complete kar li.” But why should what Alia wears or does not wear after her wedding matter to people?

Let's talk about this in detail.

Alia Bhatt Trolled: Unconventional bride

Yes, a woman looks beautiful when she decks up in all her bridal finery with all marital symbolisms but once the wedding rituals are over it should be the choice of the woman whether she wants to wear all of these regularly or not.

Last week we celebrated Alia as an unconventional bride, so we know she’ll do and lead her life differently. For who in recent times saw a bride in ivory coloured saree, with minimal mehendi, no-makeup look, open hair and taking four pheras instead of seven, with customised kaleere with birds? Yes, Alia did all this and much more. She can be dubbed as the ‘minimalistic queen’ so why are we surprised now as she continues her love for minimalism? Also, who are we to comment on, her life, her way!

Why should women wear all signs of being married? 

This is one of the basic questions for which I have been looking for an answer. Why does a woman have to apply sindoor, wear bangles or chooda, bichiya or toe-ring and cover her head? What changes for a man? At least in a Christian wedding, the man needs to wear a gold band, what do our men do? Nothing. Why we as a society are bent on changing the status of a woman by changing her maiden surname to her husband’s or her look by making her wear all trappings of a marriage? I believe these symbolisms are meant to be constant reminders for a woman so that she never crosses the threshold so to say. 

Now, I am looking forward to Ranbir stepping out, let’s see how many troll him for not looking married enough. It’s time we asked these questions. And Alia seems to ask, and why not.

She’s a thorough professional

These days women have high flying careers, attend boardroom meetings and are bosses in such a scenario does she have space for all this symbolism, where her marital status does not come into play. Even if she is a homemaker it’s her choice really whether she wants to wear one sign or none at all. As married women step out to work they need not keep taking the trappings of married life to work. We need to understand this fact.

Suggested Reading:

Preity Zinta And Hrithik Roshan Prove Men And Women Can Also Bond Over Parenting

Alia is a top-rated actor, maybe she wanted none of the fuss because she was rejoining work and all of these could have been a distraction. Mehendi applied till elbows, sindoor on parting, mangalsutra and chooda, all of these she would have either have to hide or remove as per her character requirement.

Women commenting on women

What is surprising though is that maximum trolls are women. I truly believe Kamala Bhasin, feminist activist, when she said “I know enough women who are totally patriarchal, who are totally anti-women: who do nasty things to other women, and I have known men who have worked for women's rights their whole life. Feminism is not biological: feminism is an ideology”. The patriarchal way of life has been so ingrained in our lives that instead of cheering Alia for breaking stereotypes, these women are trolling her. Don’t realise these are baby steps towards equality and freedom from patriarchal norms.

The views expressed are the author's own.