It has been five years since actor Renu Desai and actor-politician Pawan Kalyan got a divorce. Pawan Kalyan also has gone on to remarry. In the minds of self-proclaimed PK fans, however, Renu is still expected to be "loyal" to her ex-husband.
In an absurd turn of events, Renu Desai now finds herself to be the target of social media hate because she mentioned in an interview to a Telugu channel that she may remarry.
The actor has been flooded with messages such as "How can you marry again? I hate you" and "You will lose our respect" from angry Pawan Kalyan fans. Clearly, they believe their star and idol has exclusive rights on moving on from the broken marriage. They went on to say that they considered Renu to be their vadhina (sister-in-law), and pleaded with her to change her mind. They claimed that they couldn’t imagine another person in her life other than their icon Pawan Kalyan.
Renu has been receiving these messages ever since her recent TV interview in which she said that she may consider finding a partner since she felt lonely.
Until last year, I was firm on not having a remarriage, but during the period when I was unwell, when my health deteriorated, I felt that it would have been good if someone was there to take care of me and my kids. My firm decision of not having a partner softened after this episode. Let’s see.Renu Desai, in an interview to TV9
When the anchor asked if she was seeing someone, Renu replied, “Presently I don’t have anyone. If God sends someone, I probably will move on.” Ironically, Pawan Kalyan has married thrice so far and his marriage with Renu was for the second time.
Pawan Kalyan and Renu Desai parted ways in 2012. Following the divorce, Pawan married Anna Lezhneva, a Russian model.
Hitting back at the "righteous" fans, Renu Desai took to Facebook on Tuesday night to express her thoughts about the incident.
This post is not about me personally, but when I read such comments, I wonder what sort of society we live in. How we live in the midst of men who have such mindset. I’m worried. On one hand we are talking about gender equality, women empowerment, security from rapes, and on the other hand I just expressed that I’ve been lonely for seven years now, and it would be good if I had a partner, for which I’m receiving these ‘hate messages’. In our society a man can do anything, and can marry any number of times, but it is a sin for a girl to even think about another relationship. Should a woman live alone for lifelong with the regret? I pray to God today, I sincerely pray to God today that if the future of the girls should be good, women should raise their sons properly. At least then the mindset of men might change?
This is not the first time that Renu has been targeted by Pawan Kalyan fans. Earlier too, she was abused by a few fans when she'd shared photos of her ex-husband on Facebook after their break-up.
(The story first appeared on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)