Actor Sonali Kulkarni has apologised for her furore-generating comment that women in India are "lazy" and look for partners who earn well. In an Instagram post, Kulkarni said her intention was not to hurt other women, which many argued that she did.
"I have extensively expressed myself time and again in support of us and what is it being a woman," the actor said. "If unknowingly, I may have caused pain, I want to apologise from the bottom of my heart."
Kulkarni added that she wasn't someone who "thrives upon headlines" and didn't want to be at the centre of "sensational situations".
"I have learnt a lot from this incident," she said.
Her comments had angered a wide section of internet users, who called out her entitlement and privilege.
“In India, we forget a lot of women are just lazy," Kulkarni had said at a recent event. "They want husband, who earns well, owns a house and gets regular increments. Women forget to make a stand for themselves. I urge everyone to encourage women and make them self-dependent."
Many social media users reminded Kulkarni that most women India never get the education and skills to achieve financial independence.
"You can't call all women lazy when the gender equality balance is so skewed," comedian Kajol Srinivasan said. "Yes there are women who want to marry wealth. But most women in this country aren't given education or the freedom to work."
"She needs to read the government data on what women go through in this country," read another comment. "Look at women in this country. The amount of unpaid labor women do almost feels criminal."
Here are some more reactions to what Kulkarni said:
You have no clue what women in this country go through. All the gold ever taken from their necks and wrists and pawned to keep family businesses running won't be enough to build a monument to them. Don't even try to call Indian women lazy or entitled.— Gayatri (@G_y_tri) March 18, 2023
Father in law hit daughter in law with brick in Delhi. Reason - she wanted to do job!
~81% of women in India are made housewives by families. @sonalikulkarni Women are not lazy, They are held back by families.
Read the data which shows women do a lot more unpaid work than men. pic.twitter.com/mIgnk5ZHi2— Jyoti Goyal (@jyotigoyal08) March 16, 2023
Men applauding Sonali kulkarni’s video, you are ALL, yes ALL TRASH !A country where women do not have the choice to be born, to be educated, to go to a job, to reproductive health, to wealth, to dignity and you want to play victim? Thoo
— (@deepsealioness) March 17, 2023
Sonali Kulkarni is sad her brother got a corp job at 20, when scores of "lazy" women in India don't even get to study beyond class 8, are forced into unhealthy marriages where they get up at 4 slog till 12 am and still get called lazy! The only thing lazy is your opinion, Sonali— Ruchika Sharma (@tishasaroyan) March 18, 2023
