Funeral or fashion parade?

Gaurang Shah’s assistant Nikita Shah condemned celebrities and their stylists for giving precedence to fashion over funeral etiquette at Sridevi’s prayer meet.

The popular sequence in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Page 3, where socialites want to look their best at the funeral of one of their friends might just have become a reality. At least that’s what appears to be the case, going by the social media post of Nikita Shah, an assistant designer with well-known designer Gaurang Shah.

“I am disgusted and pained. We at @gaurang have got requests from stylists to dress their actors in our collection for #Sridevi's prayer meet. For God’s sake, all you superstars and actresses – are you going to her funeral/prayer meet because she meant something to you, or is it for a fashion parade? Apart from the media being ridiculous, the film fraternity has stooped so low today that it has made me bitter towards them. Leading a fake life with make-up on is a part of your life, but please be a little human at death. The only person grieving today would be her from above, looking at the way everything is unfolding. (sic),” she posted, lambasting many people.

Her post raises a can of worms on the ongoing debate over how Sridevi’s death has brought forth an insensitive side of the society. Stylist Indrakshi Pattanaik was one amongst the respondents to the post, where she wrote, “I was just browsing Instagram and came across posts about the “best dressed celebrities in white” and I shut it. ASHAMED & horrified that I could have even been a part of this! And that my colleagues are….(sic).”

However, in a world where celebrities are judged every time for how they look, one wonders if it is really wrong for them to want to look their best.