“Mujhe kyun toda?”—the iconic meme from Welcome feels oddly fitting when you look at how Arjun Kapoor has been getting trolled lately. Most recently, journalist-turned-actor Saurabh Dwivedi has faced heavy backlash for his subpar performance in Kartavya, starring Saif Ali Khan. But in the middle of that criticism, a section of the internet somehow turned its attention to Arjun Kapoor — despite him having nothing to do with the project.
Arjun Kapoor bullied online, again
The actor currently has no film releases lined up, and his only visible presence is through social media. Yet, Arjun Kapoor continues to be an easy punching bag, with trolls dragging him into unrelated conversations and mocking him whenever any actor delivers a bad performance. Comments like — “My respect for Arjun Kapoor increased after watching Saurabh Dwivedi act in the movie Kartavya.” and “Unfortunate news for Arjun Kapoor. The Best worst actor award is also taken away from him and given to Saurabh Dwivedi” — have been prevalent on X. This isn’t trolling anymore and can more accurately be described as ‘online bullying’.
Why is Arjun’s 14-year-old career unfairly compared to Saurabh’s experiment?
Saurabh Dwivedi is a seasoned journalist who tried his hand at acting and luckily landed the main antagonist role in a production backed by Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan, and starring A-lister Saif Ali Khan. However, the experiment didn’t quite land. His performance felt like an extension of his anchoring style —enunciating every word carefully while delivering dialogues with a straight face. While this may have been a one-off creative exploration for Saurabh, acting is a full-fledged career for Arjun Kapoor.
Saurabh is a journalist-turned-actor, but Arjun Kapoor is, fundamentally, an actor. Just a week ago, he marked 14 years since his debut in Ishaqzaade on Instagram, writing, “14 years later, Parma still feels like the beginning of everything. #Ishaqzaade was the start of my journey as an actor, in cinema and with all of you… And it continues.”
Arjun had a strong debut with Yash Raj Films’ Ishaqzaade, much like his contemporary Ranveer Singh, who debuted two years earlier with Band Baaja Baaraat. While their career trajectories have diverged significantly over time — with Ranveer emerging as one of the most successful actors in Hindi cinema today — Arjun, too, has delivered his share of noteworthy performances. Reducing that 14-year journey to a punchline, especially in comparison to someone’s first acting attempt, not only feels misplaced but also highlights how unfair and dangerous social media trolling can be for someone’s career.
Work that speaks
And if one has to compare debut performances, Arjun Kapoor was widely hailed by critics when he first appeared on the big screen in a lead role in Ishaqzaade. It was a performance that firmly announced, “I’m here to stay.” It is also difficult to forget the image of Arjun’s tough Haryanvi cop in Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, directed by Dibakar Banerjee — disguised as a woman dancer and vanishing right before the eyes of sharp cops trying to nab him. It remains one of the finest performances of his career.
Arjun also didn’t play it safe. He experimented with offbeat cinema, taking on roles in films like Finding Fanny, a project that gradually found its audience and appreciation over time.
That said, the actor has had his share of lows, with back-to-back underperformers like Sardar Ka Grandson, Bhoot Police, Ek Villain Returns, and Kuttey. The final blow came with The Lady Killer — one of the biggest box office disasters in Indian cinema history. Mounted on an estimated budget of ₹45 crore, the film earned only a few thousand rupees in theatres before being quietly dumped on YouTube.
However, just when it seemed like The Lady Killer might derail his career, Arjun bounced back by taking on a negative, menacing role in Singham Again, directed by Rohit Shetty. The performance earned him praise and awards, and was widely seen as a comeback of sorts.
‘Do you know how to act?’
Arjun Kapoor has previously called the trolling directed at him “cruel.” Over the years, the actor has been subjected to body shaming, debates around nepotism, and scrutiny over his career setbacks. In an interview with Chalchitra Talks, the actor raised a pertinent question, something that resonates strongly with the current wave of online trolling he is facing.
He had said, “It was very easy to say, ‘Isko acting nahi aate hai.’ Tumko pata hai acting kya hote hai? Do you know how to act? Perception on social media is a baggage. It can tire you if you get affected. It can take a toll on you emotionally and mentally, you sometime start believing that that might be the truth about you but that’s when you need to go out to the real world.”
People in the real world — those who genuinely watch and engage with films — continue to appreciate Arjun Kapoor as a performer, and are still waiting to see him bring back characters like Parma and Pinky. And while social media may reduce him to a meme, his body of work speaks louder than some distasteful jokes.
