Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan faced backlash on social media over his comment about Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund Gita Gopinath.
Posing the question "The economist seen in this image has been the chief economist of which organisation since 2019," during the hugely popular show Kaun Banega Crorepati the actor also remarked, "Her face is so beautiful that nobdoy would associate her with economy."
While Gopinath was in fact amused and impressed by the question as she tweeted, "Ok, I don't think I will ever get over this. As a HUGE fan of Big B @SrBachchan, the Greatest of All Time, this is special!," many others on social media slammed the actor for his "sexist" remark.
"Don't you think he was being sexist here? Etna khubsurat face or economy!!! What does that mean," a user asked.
"So sad that he just had to mention your looks while pointing to your earned achievement. Bet you he wouldn't have made a mention if, say, @raghuramrajan or @kaushikcbasu were on the screen. Anyway, congratulations to you @GitaGopinath : keep the flag flying high!," tweeted another.
Another user tweeted: "I didn’t like the comment about linking beauty with brains. Stupid of Mr. Bachchan to suggest that beautiful women can’t be economists"
Meanwhile, Bachchan took to Twitter to reply to Gopinath saying “thank you Gita Gopinath ji .. I meant every word i said about you on the show .. said in utmost earnestness.”