Indian TV actor who shared cyclone photoshoot responds to backlash: ‘I don’t regret it’

‘I don’t regret it but, I would definitely request the audience to not step out in the rain’ said the actor

An Indian television actor who is facing backlash after posting pictures of herself dancing in the rain amidst debris of a tree damaged by cyclone Tauktae, has said she does not regret the photoshoot some see as insensitive.

Deepika Singh told India Times: “I haven’t seen any hate comments on my post. 99 per cent of the comments I’ve received are positive. Rest 1 per cent bad comments are on all the posts, even on my traditional dance posts.”

“I will not stop spreading positivity, and this is for my well-being and happiness. I don’t regret it but, I would definitely request the audience to not step out in the rain, this area is right outside my house. Therefore, I stepped out for 5 minutes,” she said.

Some Twitter users criticised the photos she uploaded for being off-colour in the face of the devastation caused by the cyclone.

Speaking of the fallen tree in her posts, she said: “That tree fell on my car.”

“I had planted that tree in front of my house five years ago, and four to five days ago, we were discussing how beautifully this tree has grown and on the cyclone day, it fell,” she explained.

“The cyclone indeed was very scary and my heart goes out to all those affected and my only aim is to plant as many trees as I can,” she said.

In the Instagram caption, she wrote: “You can’t calm the storm, so stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself, embrace nature and its gloomy moods because the storm will pass... Ps: This tree fell right outside my house nobody got hurt, but while putting it away from my door, Rohit and I managed to take few pictures to remember the Cyclone Tauktae!”

One Twitter user wrote: “Poor and middle class people problems with #CycloneTauktae is to plan that water doesn’t fill in their in houses or that they have shed in their heads but this how rich one reacts and deals with #Tauktecyclone#DeepikaSingh #insensitive.”

The extremely severe tropical cyclone hit several states along the coast of Arabian sea, causing damage to life and property. Last week, the Indian Navy recovered at least 51 bodies, two days after a barge that had gone adrift sunk into the Arabian Sea when the storm hit India’s western coast.