RJ Malishka faces backlash for greeting Neeraj Chopra with a dance during virtual interview

Popular RJ and presenter Malishka Mendonsa and her colleagues recently faced widespread criticism after a section of social media users called her out for making the Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra uncomfortable by dancing in front of him during a virtual interview.

A day ago, Malishka posted a small clip of her interview with Neeraj, and as per the visuals shared on Twitter, she and her colleagues could be seen dancing to 'Uden Jab Jab Zulfen Teri' from the 1957 film 'Naya Daur', while the 23-year-old athlete watched on through the screen.

During the 30-second dance routine, the star javelin thrower was seen sitting silently and smiling.

Along with the clip, she tweeted, "Ladiesssss..Yes I got the hard hitting, deep answers too but..Take the first 4 secs before the cam moves to the zoom call to guess who we are dancing forSmiling face with halo ;) #udejabjabzulfeinteri and then tell me I did it for all of usSmiling face with open mouth and smiling eyes #gold #olympics #neerajchopra @RedFMIndia @RedFM_Mumbai."

The video did not sit well with netizens who accused her of making him "uncomfortable" and slammed Malishka for her unprofessional behaviour. Some even compared the incident to "harassment", while others condemned the "cringe-fest".

A Twitter user wrote, "Neeraj was evidently feeling awkward there, you should have known better and chosen a different way to conduct this interview/chat."

Another user sarcastically joked, "Dear @Neeraj_chopra1 I won't charge any consultation fee if you need any psychological therapy after this incident."

Other reactions to the video were also mostly negative, with Twitterati pointing out that not only was the dancing unprofessional, it would have also been slammed as sexist, had gender roles been reversed.

"Dear @mymalishka. How would your feminist self react if a female athlete was shown a dance by 5-6 male RJs on "ude jab jab zulfein teri" and by the end they asked her "zyaada to nahi cheda na aapko humne" ?? Please answer since you've been quite vocal on idea of gender equality," wrote a Twitter user.

The controversy, however, did not end there. In another clip doing rounds on the internet from her interview, while concluding the session, Malishka leaned into the screen to ask Neeraj for a virtual 'jaadu ki jhappi'.

To this, Neeraj politely replied, "Namaste...Door se hi namaste".

Netizens quoted this incident to further call it out as an indication of Neeraj's uneasiness with Malishka and the entire fiasco.

"This show is 101 ways to make your guest uncomfortable. FYI: He is a world class athlete+ArmyOfficer+India's 1stGold medalist (F and T) Olympics," a Twitter user pointed out.

One user also asked the RJs to "stop romanticising male players", saying that they are "much more than a sexual object". The user wrote, "Can you please stop romanticising male players? They are much more than a sexual object. I hope red fm takes note of this."

Another user argued that "they don't genuinely respect Neeraj Chopra" or even his achievement because they still see him as "a village boy from Haryana who made it big", adding that they wouldn't dare break protocol when interviewing "sports elite like Virat Kohli or Leander Paes".

The star javelin thrower broke India's 13-year jinx for a gold medal on August 7 and made history as he won the first Gold medal for India at the Tokyo Olympics earlier this month. Neeraj is also the second Indian to win an individual Gold medal in the Olympics so far.

( With inputs from ANI )

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