People need clicks: Faysal Quraishi laughs off social media drama over mother's comments

Actor attributes recent controversy to how internet users strive for clout

In a recent interview with chatshow Meri Saheli, acclaimed actor Faysal Quraishi addressed the controversy surrounding his mother Afshan Quraishi’s statement. The senior actor had expressed regret over not praying for her son to be a good person in addition to being a successful actor. Her comments, however, were taken out of context and misinterpreted by social media users.

As per Faysal, people on social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube twisted his mother’s words to create unnecessary drama. He criticised the tendency of social media users to focus on negative aspects rather than positive ones. “If I speak generally about social media, be it YouTube or Instagram, people need clicks. They need clicks, likes, and traffic. Anything positive is far less likely to garner such attention. People are more attracted to negative things.”

Despite the unwarranted buzz, Faysal advised his mother not to issue any clarification. However, Afshan felt compelled to clarify her statement, which had gone viral after being edited and circulated on social media. She explained that her comments about praying for her son’s success were misunderstood. The Khaie actor shared his reaction when the issue first surfaced, saying, “I was laughing a lot when this first came up. I told my mother that she doesn’t have to give a justification to anyone but she did that anyway.”

He added, “I kept laughing. The way people were trolling me, it was as if they’d never been scolded by their mothers. As if their parents have never been mad at them. It was funny but it’s the reality nowadays that on social media, you can turn anything trivial into something huge by editing it. A small comment can be turned on its head.”

The controversy stemmed from an old interview given by Afshan, which was edited and circulated widely. In the viral clip, she mentioned that while her prayers for her son’s success were answered, she regretted not praying for him to be a good son and a good human being. She also touched on the issue of children leaving their parents in old age homes. Despite the storm in a teacup, Faysal took the incident in stride, highlighting the power of social media to distort reality for attention and clicks.

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