Mahira Khan – Ranbir Kapoor pics row: Here’s why the actress responded to trolls

Mumbai: Mahira Khan was apparently affected by the controversy over her photographs with Ranbir Kapoor outside a hotel in New York City a few months back. Soon after images of the two taking a smoke break had surfaced online trolls started flooding Twitter with hate tweets.

Mahira was slut-shamed for smoking and wearing a backless short dress in public. Moreover, she was slammed for being seen with Bollywood heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor, who is one of the most eligible bachelors in the Tinsel Town.

The actress, who made her Bollywood debut with Rahul Dholakia’s Raees co-starring Shah Rukh Khan in January this year, remained tight-lipped for a while and chose not to speak about the issue.

In the meanwhile, a number of actors from Bollywood as well as the Pakistani film industry came out to support and express solidarity with her. Even Ranbir Kapoor opened up about the issue and stood by her side by defending her.

It was only after the dust had settled, Mahira broke her silence. And now, during an interview with City Times, Mahira said, “I was quiet initially, but I was definitely not laughing over the controversy.”

Explaining why she decided to respond to trolls, Mahira said, “It is personal for sure. The reason I responded to the trolls is because something very personal to me became public. So, I felt, 'Okay, let's just put it out there.' For anybody being harassed and the issue becoming a national debate, it's not a nice thing. I don't know what made me do this,  but I thought that I am going to take this on the chin and I am going to move forward.”

"It takes strength, but when you are hit with something and when you are in the storm, you fight it out. It is not that you are stronger than him or her. It is just that you walk out of the storm and you are going to do your best to swim out of it. And once you come out, you are stronger and more evolved. I think that nobody should define you - if anything then you should define yourself. I learned during that period who I was, and I will not let anybody define me. Not to say that I don't take criticism and all of that," she added.

Mahira was in Dubai to promote her Pakistani film Verna which was slated to hit the silverscreen in UAE.