"Baseless": Dhruv Rathee Breaks Silence On Claims Linking His Video To Janhvi Kapoor’s Bangladesh Post

New Delhi: A fresh online controversy has erupted between content creator Dhruv Rathee and parts of Bollywood's fanbase after rumours spread that he targeted actress Janhvi Kapoor for her social media post on the lynching of a Hindu man in Bangladesh. Rathee has strongly denied the claims, saying the timing and intent of his video were misunderstood. 

What sparked the debate?

Janhvi came under the spotlight last week after she shared a heartfelt Instagram message condemning the brutal killing of Dipu Chandra Das in Bangladesh. She described the lynching as "barbaric" and urged people to speak out against all forms of extremism. 

Hours later on December 25, Dhruv uploaded a new video about cosmetic procedures and "fake beauty" in Bollywood, which included a thumbnail featuring several actors, including Janhvi, Bipasha Basu, Shruti Haasan, Deepika Padukone, Shilpa Shetty, Kajol and Priyanka Chopra, claiming that they have undergone some sort of plastic surgery. 

Soon after the video was posted, some social media users linked the timing of Dhruv's video to Janhvi’s Bangladesh post and accused him of trying to divert the conversation or mock her.

Did Dhruv target Janhvi on purpose?

On Saturday, Dhruv took to social media and posted a video with the caption, "Did I mock Janhvi Kapoor for her post on Bangladeshi Hindus?" He called the rumours "baseless" and urged people not to jump to conclusions. 

Dhruv started the video by saying, "Wake up Hindus, Janhvi Kapoor posted for Bangladeshi Hindu and Dhruv Rathee made a video questioning her beauty." According to him, the video on plastic surgery was already planned and had nothing to do with Janhvi's comments on Bangladesh. He also said it's unrealistic that he could research, shoot, and upload a detailed video in the short span between her post and his upload. 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Dhruv Rathee (@dhruvrathee)

“Bhagwan ne tumhe dimag diya hai toh kyun nahi istemal karte uska. Matlab jo IT cell wale post dalte rahenge woh tum andhadhun yakeen karte rahoge. Pehli cheez toh jis din Janhvi Kapoor ne post dali usi din maine andhe ghante mein video daldi thi. Kya yeh realistically possible hai ke main ek hi din ke andar adhe ghante ka video edit karke, research karke, shoot karke… Sab kuch ek hi din mein karke dal doon (God has given you a brain, so why don’t you use it? Why are you blindly believing whatever the IT cell keeps posting? I already uploaded my video in half an hour on the very same day that Janhvi Kapoor made her post. Is it realistically possible for me to research, shoot, edit a half-hour video and upload it: all within a single day?),” Dhruv said.

Dhruv added that he has covered other topics related to Bangladeshi Hindus, suggesting it would be inconsistent for him to criticise the issue. He also explained that YouTube often tests different thumbnails to see which version performs best, dismissing claims that he deliberately chose Janhvi's image to derail attention from her post.