Shivarajkumar condemns slipper attack on Challenging Star Darshan in Hospet

Last evening, in a deplorable act of alleged fan rivalry, Kannada cinema’s Challenging Star Darshan came under attack. At the public event for the launch of the second song of his film Kranti in Hospete, a group, allegedly late Puneeth Rajkumar fans, not only kept chanting “Appu, Appu” in an attempt to disrupt the proceedings, but also ended in one of them hurling a slipper at Darshan, which clipped his shoulder and cheek. Although taken aback for a moment, Darshan brushed it off and continued with the proceedings.

The actor’s friends from the industry have been condemning the incident and pledging their love and support, like, for instance, Prajwal and Pranam Devaraj, Dhananjaya, Nenapirali Prem to Abishek Ambareesh and many more. Hattrick Hero Shivarajkumar, who has been busy promoting his upcoming release Vedha also reacted to the incident. Calling the act hurtful, Shivanna, as the actor is fondly known as, said, “Yesterday's act on Darshan in Hospet has hurt my heart. All artists belong to the same family. This kind of inhumane incident hurts all the same family members. I request that no one should do such acts forgetting humanity. Show love with pride; not hatred or disrespect.”

The incident, which is fast being dubbed ‘Slipper Shot’, is alleged to have been a fallout of an earlier statement that Darshan said in an interview, wherein he compared the love from his fans to the outpouring of love and respect for Puneeth Rajkumar when he passed away. Darshan had said that so much love is normally seen when an actor dies, and that he feels fortunate to have been seen it while alive. This, of course, did not sit well with the late Power Star’s fans and an ugly war of words took place on social media back then. They also demanded that Darshan tender an apology, but that was not forthcoming.