NEW DELHI: Bollywood superstar Priyanka Chopra hit back at critics Wednesday for trying to shame her over a dress she wore during a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The actress was accused of “disrespecting” the prime minister by wearing a knee-length dress revealing her lower legs during an audience with Modi in Berlin.
Chopra was attacked on social media by critics who found the outfit unsuitable for the occasion, with many offended the 34-year-old star had not chosen to wear Indian attire. But the star of the hit American spy thriller “Quantico” was unapologetic, hitting back with a photo showing her and her mother wearing short dresses with the caption “legs for days.... #itsthegenes.”
The former Miss World describes herself as a “strong-willed feminist” who has campaigned to close the gender pay gap in Bollywood and change attitudes toward women in her home country.
“For so many years women were told to act a certain way, to dress a certain way, to think a certain way, even not to think at all,” Chopra told AFP in an interview last year.
“People misconstrue the word feminism. It is not hating men, or making men small. It is just saying, ‘We want our independence to make our own choices the way men have done for so long.’“
Chopra has been landing bigger roles in Hollywood since boosting her international profile through “Quantico.” The actress has been cast as a villain in the newly-released “Baywatch” film.
Priyanka Chopra dresses down critics over meet with PM
Priyanka Chopra dresses down critics over meet with PM
Fans bid farewell to Japan’s only pandas
TOKYO: Panda lovers in Tokyo said goodbye on Sunday to a hugely popular pair of the bears that are set to return to China, leaving Japan without the beloved animals for the first time in half a century.
Loaned out as part of China’s “panda diplomacy” program, the distinctive black-and-white animals have symbolized friendship between Beijing and Tokyo since the normalization of diplomatic ties in 1972.
Some visitors at Ueno Zoological Gardens were left teary-eyed as they watched Japan’s only two pandas Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao munch on bamboo.
The animals are expected to leave for China on Tuesday following a souring of relations between Asia’s two largest economies.
“I feel like seeing pandas can help create a connection with China too, so in that sense I really would like pandas to come back to Japan again,” said Gen Takahashi, 39, a Tokyo resident who visited the zoo with his wife and their two-year-old daughter.
“Kids love pandas as well, so if we could see them with our own eyes in Japan, I’d definitely want to go.”
The pandas’ abrupt return was announced last month after Japan’s conservative premier Sanae Takaichi hinted Tokyo could intervene militarily in the event of any attack on Taiwan.
Her comment provoked the ire of Beijing, which regards the island as its own territory.
The 4,400 lucky winners of an online lottery took turns viewing the four-year-old twins at Ueno zoo while others gathered nearby, many sporting panda-themed shirts, bags and dolls to celebrate the moment.
Mayuko Sumida traveled several hours from the central Aichi region in the hope of seeing them despite not winning the lottery.
“Even though it’s so big, its movements are really funny-sometimes it even acts kind of like a person,” she said, adding that she was “totally hooked.”
“Japan’s going to be left with zero pandas. It feels kind of sad,” she said.
Their departure might not be politically motivated, but if pandas return to Japan in the future it would symbolize warming relations, said Masaki Ienaga, a professor at Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and expert in East Asian international relations.
“In the future...if there are intentions of improving bilateral ties on both sides, it’s possible that (the return of) pandas will be on the table,” he told AFP.
