In the latest Internet spat, ex-Bigg Boss contestant Urfi Javed slammed designer Farah Khan Ali for slut-shaming her over her choice of attire. From her DIY clothes to her ‘bold’ avatar and refusal to take trolling down, she is really the Rakhi Sawant 2.0, albeit of fashion. Javed, who is no stranger to online trolling, decided not to accept the unsolicited opinion of Ali, who was trying to ‘advise’ the TV actor on how to dress. Ali wrote: “Sorry to say but this young girl needs to be reprimanded for distasteful dressing. People are making fun of her and she thinks they like the way she dresses.”
Before she became the ‘bad girl’ of street fashion, and the daily fodder for trolls on the Internet from 2016 to 2017, Urfi played the role of Chhaya in Star Plus show Chandra Nandhini (2016). In 2018, the actress played Kamini Joshi in SAB TV’s Saat Phero Ki Hera Pherie. In 2020, Urfi Javed joined Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai (2009) as Shivani Bhatia and later played Tanisha Chakraborty in Kasautii Zindagii Kay (2018).
Urfi Javed’s transformation
Urfi’s Instagram presence has always been strong, and she currently has 2.7 million followers. From fashion ensembles that often make no sense to very random reels, she does it all. It was this popularity that landed the actor a slot in Bigg Boss OTT (2021). But she was also the very first person to be eliminated. But unfazed, Javed seems to have made her life a season of Bigg Boss, with all the drama minus being confined to a house with rules.
Even the fashion overlord, Diet Sabya, recently launched its merchandise modelled by the actor/celebrity. Being endorsed by Diet Sabya is a badge of approval itself, as it has not spared even giants like Sabyasachi.
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The queen of controversy
From her relationship with her ‘childish’ ex, Paras Kalnawat and claiming she lost out on the popular show Anupamaa because of him, to shouting at a guard for not recognising her, Urfi stirs trouble constantly. But it is also her attitude that keeps winning as many hearts. Being a Muslim woman, she was also trolled for her choice of outfit and told to wear a hijab.
A woman slut shaming another woman asking the leaders to make her wear hijab and then talking about women's right is peak of hypocrisy. #sodone #urfijaved pic.twitter.com/pBZrroBB63
— Iqra Qureshi (@theiq__) March 17, 2022
Shabana Azmi too cleared the air for those who linked Urvi to Javed Akhtar’s family and tweeted: “Urfi Javed is not related to us in any way” “She is not related to us in any way. Stop spreading lies!” she added in a follow-up post. Unperturbed by the false claims, Urfi decided to make the controversy into a style statement, wearing a T-shirt with the caption: ‘Not Javed Akhtar’s granddaughter.’
Urfi Javed is not related to us in any way https://t.co/JjY2GsRVh7
— Azmi Shabana (@AzmiShabana) September 7, 2021
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Urfi Javed also called out casting director Obed Afridi for demanding sexual favours from young girls and accused him of trying to defame her.
So many young girls have spoken up against him but he is still moving freely infact working !! Hez not fir to live in the Society forger working ! @DgpChdPolice @PunjabPoliceInd pic.twitter.com/Cx5mSjGqV4
— Urfi Javed (@urf7i) February 21, 2022
Urfi is the Gen Z version of Rakhi Sawant, known for being the controversy queen ages ago. The similarity is almost uncanny, with Sawant once calling out Mika Singh for forcibly kissing her, and for being trolled for everything she did, including her marriage.
The commonality does not end there — it is also how both women are not afraid to call a spade a spade, despite the potential impact on their careers after engaging in a war of words with industry heavyweights.
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TV and ‘sanskaar-maryada’
It is not unusual that actors who play bahu-beti in TV serials are often expected to dress up a certain way in their public appearances or in real life. Urfi’s counterpart, who also started off as a TV actor and later managed to build a massive social media presence based on her fashion choices, Nia Sharma, has also faced relentless trolling for her clothes. From her bubbly avatar in Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai (2011) to Naagin season 4 (2021), Sharma, voted among the sexiest Asian women in 2016 and 2017, too has refashioned herself as a bold fashion diva.
Nia, however, is not the only one — there have been actors judged and slut-shamed over not subscribing to the ‘morality’ of the characters they play on-screen in real life as well. For instance, actress Sonarika Bhadoria was trolled for wearing a bikini. The trolls claimed to be ‘offended’ because she played the role of goddess Parvati in Devon ke Dev Mahadev (2011).
Whether you are amused or offended by the very quirky sartorial choices and reels of Urfi, you cannot slut-shame or troll the Bigg Boss OTT star, without being called out or clapped back. And you cannot escape from her either, as she keeps up with the Instagram algorithm too — either being captured by paparazzi or sharing her own posts, being completely unapologetic about herself.