Daisy Shah’s photo with Khaled Hosseini’s novel draws flak, actor apologises

The ‘Race 3’ actress had shared the photo along with the caption, “Just smile, because it works" posing with the famous novel 'A Thousand Splendid Suns'. Tweeple trolled the actor saying smiling with this book is "inappropriate".

Screenshots of the post went viral, drawing flak on Twitter, as many were confused what aspect in the book seemed funny to Shah. (Source: @02geeta/ Twitter)

Many stars are picking up new hobbies during the Covid-19 lockdown so as to cut out all stress and smile. However, Bollywood actor Daisy Shah’s recent post, showing her laughing heartily while reading a book, irked many online and had trolls taking her case.

Posing with Khaled Hosseini’s famous novel, ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’, the actor shared her photo with a caption: “Just smile, because it works”. The story in the bestseller, which is a sequel to Khaled’s ‘The Kite Runner’, revolves around Mariam, an illegitimate child, who suffers from the stigma surrounding her birth along with the abuse she faces in her marriage.

Soon screenshots of the post went viral, with many wondering what the Race 3 actor found funny in the book.

Apparently, this book was full of jokes which I evidently missed out on :/
In pic: Daisy Shah pic.twitter.com/0AtJTP9G64

— rey wuw (@abeyhalwahaikya) September 4, 2020

I cried buckets… Wrong book to pose to

— bedika (@rbedika) September 4, 2020

There were zero (0) comedy scenes in my copy of ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 pic.twitter.com/ezBSsKtPfW

— Indravadan Sarabhai (@02geeta) September 3, 2020

reminds me when another influenza had posed with and laughed at….. Anne Frank’s Diary

— Samarpita Mukherjee Sharma 🇮🇳 (@BookLuster) September 3, 2020

Same here. It is one of my all time favs. It c occupied my mind for atleast 3 days after I had finished it

— Manan Singla (@Manan_13) September 4, 2020

This is one of the saddest books. It leaves one disturbed for a few days after reading it. I Probably didn’t read it right, it seems

— মধুলিকা (@heartgoesboop) September 4, 2020

I think we’ve read the wrong book .

— Prabath🇱🇰 (@Prabathkv96) September 4, 2020

Its such a heartbreaking story. There were times when I just skipped the pages. I just couldnt deal with what the characters were going through.

— 21stCenturyIndian (@2006vik) September 4, 2020

This is the saddest book I have ever read. I still get sad when I think of it. I don’t think there is a single soul who found anything in that book worth smiling about. She looks stupid with that smile on her face☹️☹️

— Riddhi Singh (@badassbrownmom) September 4, 2020

they holding that book for.. aesthetic😭 the book made me cry along w the kite runner

— jk⁷ (@wickedggukie) September 4, 2020

Influencers really DO NOT influence at all. I cried throughout Thousand Splendid Suns, its my favorite book and this chick is just plain disrespecting the whole story and Mariam’s struggle for happiness.

— Your Insecurities (@FractalElf) September 4, 2020

so true! This is one poignant story from page 1 – no light moments! This picture is such a contrast! 🙄

— Rashmi Tambe (@rashmitambe) September 4, 2020

If at all this book makes u think n feel sad idk what is she laughing about or is it just to look smart she was given a book to hold without any knowledge of what the book is about 😒

This is one of my fav books

— Dr Khushboo 👛 (@khushbookadri) September 4, 2020

How they just pose with the novels without even knowing their outline 😤😤.

— Kriti N. Jain🌸 (@jain_kriti_) September 4, 2020

“You don’t know me or my life. Am I a reader or am I using things as a prop or was I also having a conversation with some1 at the very same time or may be not. So you know what make ur own stories about whatever you want,” Shah wrote commenting on the tweet. However, she deleted the tweet later.

Later, taking to Instagram on the issue, she wrote: “Final word on the matter from my end. Try to be happy no matter what. N it’s very important to have an insight on is own life rather than discussing others. LIVE AND LET LIVE.”

However, as backlash grew, she apologised and said she will ask her team to take down the photo and explained, “The laugh was on a joke that was cracked by a friend behind the camera n not for the book.”

“All I want to say is, the pic was posted coz it was a candid capture n was focused on the smile n happiness that it emitted Since I had only read 4-5 pages then I didn’t know how intense it would get. Will be careful from now on. Sorry,” she added.

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Daisy Shah apologised in a series of posts on Instagram stories.

In another story, she added: “There is no shame in apologising. But if people want to feed their ego by thinking it’s becoz of them. God bless you. It was done coz I read the book n felt the pain n realised the stir that 1 pic cld create without thinking it through.” The post has been removed from her Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Earlier, a TikTok star Jannat Zubair was criticised for a similar photo when she posted a photo of herself reading Anne Frank’s ‘The dairy of a young girl’.