Fans haul soapie actors over coals for TV adultery

13 January 2015 - 15:14 By Taschica Pillay
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Isidingo's Jack Devnarain has taken a social media beating for his on-screen cheating with his younger, black secretary.

Devnarain, who plays married businessman Rajesh Kumar on the weekday SABC3 soapie, has been at the receiving end of moral and racist outrage on Twitter and Facebook from fans since November, when his character started an affair with his personal assistant, the gorgeous Zak Khumalo, played by Fikile Mthwalo.

Some fans - mainly Indian women - were upset that he cheated on his wife, Priya, played by Leeanda Reddy. They vented their outrage on Facebook and Twitter, questioning how he could abandon his Indian wife for his black PA.

The comments on his feeds have since been removed.

Other fans questioned his betrayal of his marriage vows.

Devnarain said he was surprised and disappointed by people's inability to separate him from his TV character.

"I take my work very seriously but not necessarily the comments of people who are upset by the events on a soapie and decide to post their emotional comments online.

"I stand by my work and my family stand by me.

"We've had a smaller number of viewers who have condemned the relationship on various grounds, one that it was ... an adulterous affair. Another reason for objecting was that people felt loyal to what they think is the Indian culture and used that as reason to object to the affair.

"Another group objected that any relationship between an Indian and black person should be condemned. Those were comments which were most surprising. Their response was the most bigoted and most insulting to the actors in a personal way. That aspect took me most by surprise."

 

Among the messages posted on Devnarain's Twitter feed were: "Dunno what message u sending with your latest role. A disappointin one as everyone looks to the moral Rajesh."

Another said: "@JackD157 u are ignorant of the soapie u act in. Theres a moral to evry movie. U have none."

In response to that, someone tweeted: "Those who have too many morals - there's a little button on the TV. It says off. Use it."

Sivan Pillay, MD at Endemol, which created the show, said Devnarain was not the first character to have been in this situation on Isidingo.

"I suppose Rajesh, through the history of the show, his character has been strait-laced.

"For the more literate viewers and those that understand the show and the characters, a set of circumstances led to him doing that. Not that it can be condoned, but unfortunately he makes an error in judgment which he will regret later on. We try to tell more stories that spark social debate. The more we do that, the more successful Isidingo will be," said Pillay.

He said Isidingo challenged stereotypes.

"A large fan base of Isidingo from the Indian community comes from Durban. And a larger part of that Indian fan base would be very conservative and would not condone an interracial relationship. But it's a fact and it's a real thing in our country. Hopefully it opens up some minds and gets people to see the world in a more colourless way," said Pillay.

Mthwalo said it would almost seem that the audience was a little bipolar.

"At the beginning, everyone was pushing the relationship and sending messages that we should kiss already. And when it happened, there was an almost 180º turn. There were messages of 'How could you, guys? This is so awful.' And it was the same people who were pushing the relationship at the beginning.

"It's a little worrying when you see messages that someone should just shoot or slap someone. What's stopping someone from reading the tweet and seeing me in the mall one day and slapping me?" said Mthwalo.

She said fans were split along gender lines.

"While the black women are 50/50, the black men are very happy."

 

Meanwhile, singer Sunette Bridges (above) and 7de Laan actress Vinette Ebrahim (below) became embroiled in a racial spat on social media after a Facebook post by Bridges two weeks ago.

Bridges wrote: "While the whole world is Celebrating the start of a brand new year I would like you to spare a thought for the families of the 217 White South Africans who were butchered by Black Savages in 2014. 213 White South Africans were murdered by Black attackers in 2013 and, 3 hours into 2015 they claimed another victim."

 

Ebrahim's response was: "Well, how does it feel Sunette Bridges to be wearing the shoe that my people wore for a long [time]? How does it feel to be the downtrodden minority? How does it feel to be in fear for your life on a daily basis?

"You are an opportunist and a fearmonger and you exploit the undereducated Afrikaner. You and Steve [Hofmeyr]. Your little boeremag enclave is exactly that ... little."

Bridges's fans came to her defence, abusing Ebrahim and urging a boycott of the soapie.

Neither Ebrahim nor Bridges responded to queries from the Sunday Times.

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