MUMBAI: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan indirectly took a dig at author Shobha De while congratulating P V Sindhu on winning the women’s badminton singles semi-finals at Olympics in Rio.

De had mocked Indian athletes, saying their aim was only to click selfies and return without any medal from the sporting gala. The author was criticised and trolled for her comments.

Bachchan, 73, congratulated Sindhu, saying when she comes back he would like to click a selfie with her. “#PVSindhu.. Aap “khaali haath” nahein, medal leke wapas aa rahein hain.. Aur hum aapke saath ‘selfie’ nikalne chahate hain!! (You are not coming empty-handed, in fact, you are coming along with a medal and I want to take a selfie with you),” he wrote. In another post, Bachchan wrote, “#PVSindhu… Aapne ‘bolne walon’ ki bolti bund kar di.. Karm bolta hai aur wo kabhi kabhi ‘kalam’ ko bhi hara deta hai! BADHAI !! (You have made those people stunned, who talk unnecessarily. Hard work speaks and sometimes even defeats a pen! Congratulations!!).” The legendary actor then asked people to never underestimate the female power. “Never ever underestimate power of female gender ! #PVSindhu you have destroyed so many ‘naysayers’ .. you are the PRIDE of INDIA!,” he tweeted.–PTI