THE CRUEL MEDIA RUSH TO DECLARE DEATH

Have we begun treating celebrity illness as trending opportunity rather than a human event?

- BY MANJUSHA RADHAKRISHNAN | Entertainment, Lifestyle and Sport Editor

In the age of instant news and algorithm-driven headlines, compassion seems to have quietly left the newsroom. In all honesty, at some point we are all guilty of playing this game. Over the past 24 hours, as Bollywood legend Dharmendra battles for recovery in critical care, social media timelines and television tickers have been flooded with one thing: false death reports.

Earlier this morning, his actress daughter Esha Deol had to publicly appeal to journalists and netizens to stop spreading unverified rumours about their loved one’s passing. The night before, Dharmendra’s son from his first marriage and actor Sunny Deol’s team also stepped in, urging restraint.