Varun Dhawan, Ali Zafar, Parineeti Chopra defend Mahira Khan

Social media went berserk with rumours of romance between Ranbir Kapoor and Mahira Khan after pictures of the duo smoking in New York went viral online.

While the entertainment media went into an overdrive with gossip, Khan was criticised for smoking and her attire.

The embattled Pakistani found support in fellow actor Ali Zafar and Indian actors Varun Dhawan and Parineeti Chopra slamming the trolls. Zafar posted a letter urging the trolls to respect a woman’s choice.

“What has happened to us? Have we lost all sense of sensibility?,” wrote Fazal before adding, “Every woman has the right to make her own choices in life (as long as she’s not hurting anyone else , just like we men do”.

Meanwhile, Chopra called the criticism unfair. Speaking at the trailer launch of Golmaal Again, Chopra said, "I'll just say one line. It's a little unfair. Everybody knows it's unfair and it'll stop. Today, because of social media, everything becomes too big a deal."

Both Varun Dhawan and Taapsee Pannu were asked about the criticism of Khan at a Judwaa 2 promotional event on Friday.

Pannu said about trolls, "An eye for an eye would make the entire nation blind so I don’t want to answer them with anger and hatred so I find humour the best way to answer them.”

Dhawan didn’t speak much, but said “shame on them who are shaming others".