Aashiqui star Rahul Roy slams trolls over viral 'cringe' videos: 'Help me find work instead of mocking me'

If you have been doomscrolling on the internet, you must have come across reels featuring Rahul Roy in the last few days. The actor who rose to fame with the 1990s blockbuster Aashiqui, has been featuring in series of videos on Instagram, mostly lip-syncing his old hit songs. In some, he is seen recreating romantic numbers of the 1990s with an Instagram influencer who goes by the name Dr Vanita Ghadage Desai.

The reels have obviously grabbed attention online and left many concerned and curious about Roy. He has also been subjected to trolling on the videos. On Wednesday, Roy addressed the buzz around the videos in a social media post and spoke about facing a financial crisis due to ongoing legal matters.

Rahul Roy’s viral reels

Instagram has been flooded with Rahul Roy and Vanita Desai’s reels where both can be singing and performing to old Bollywood hits. The video quality and the content will transport you instantly to the 1900s as the two perform and romance in outdoor locations.

In one reel, he was seen dancing to Tere Dar Pe Sanam, a song belonging to the 1993 film Phir Teri Kahaani Yaad Aayi, featuring Rahul opposite Pooja Bhatt. While some social media users expressed concern for Rahul after the reels surfaced, there were others who called the videos cringe.

On Wednesday, Rahul took to Instagram to share a note that seemed to address all the chatter around his recent videos online. The actor also called out trolls, slamming those who mocked him and his struggles while asserting that such reactions reveal more about them than him.

Rahul wrote that if people ridicule his “simplicity or make fun of his struggles”, it reflects more on them than it does on him.

“I do my work with honesty and modesty. I have some legal matters to pay for, and these are not from today—they are from before the brain stroke happened,” Rahul wrote.

The actor revealed that he is dealing with legal matters that require significant expenses.

The actor continued, “If you mock my simplicity or make fun of my struggles, it says less about me and more about you. If you are truly so concerned, then help me find some genuine and decent work so I can pay for these cases. At least I am earning through hard work, not by mocking others.”

The actor also stated that he has intended to stay active after he suffered a brain stroke.

“And after the brain stroke, it is important for me to stay active. I want to work for as long as I am alive. It keeps my mind active and gives me the sense of purpose and responsibility that I am still working today. Yes, it may hurt a little sometimes, but you cannot break me,” Rahul wrote as he concluded the note.

Who is Rahul Roy?

Those who grew up in the late 1980s or early 1990s would be familiar with Rahul Roy. The actor became an overnight sensation with his debut film Aashiqui, which was helmed by Mahesh Bhatt and also starred Anu Aggarwal. The film was released in 1990, and its success made Rahul an overnight star.

After the initial success, Rahul was seen in Junoon (1992), Dilwale Kabhi Na Hare (1992) and Gumrah (1993). But his subsequent films failed to click at the box office, and he faded into oblivion. He returned to the limelight years later when he won the first season of the reality show Bigg Boss in 2007. Rahul was recently seen in the Zee5 film Cabaret.

The actor suffered a brain stroke in 2020 while shooting for a film. He was taken to Wockhardt Hospitals, where he underwent angiography of the brain and heart. Later, Rahul was admitted to Mumbai's Nanavati Hospital's ICU on November 27, 2020. Rahul has since then recovered.