Sonali Kulkarni on her viral traffic video: I was not protesting or fighting, but stating facts

Sonali Kulkarni was stranded in traffic for nearly five hours on Mumbai’s Mankhurd bridge on Wednesday night while travelling to Pune, as severe congestion on roads leading to Navi Mumbai brought vehicles to a standstill.

The Dil Chahta Hai actor took to social media to describe the ordeal, calling the situation “scary.” Now in Pune, Sonali speaks to Bombay Times about the experience.‘The traffic team could not reach, they were helpless’Opening up about why she chose to speak out on social media, Sonali says, “It was genuinely out of concern and fear. I felt like reaching out on social media because there were many people who were stuck. Some people who were going home chose to walk down the bridge.

I took a walk for a kilometre, back-and-forth and saw that there were kids crying and people were hungry. There was no food or water. I can’t even tell you what women did because there were no washrooms on the bridge.

The only positive point was that the traffic control room where I called was responding. The officer there was patiently answering all questions. The engineering team and the traffic team could not reach due to the situation, they were helpless.

It was an extremely painful experience.”‘I was not fighting with the government'Clarifying her intent, Sonali emphasised that her voice came from conviction rather than confrontation. “So far, I feel that whenever I have raised a voice, I was convinced about it. I was convinced about the need to do it. I was not protesting, neither was I vehemently fighting with the government. I was stating facts about our harrowing experience”. ‘As a metro, we need to think about civic planningand what we lack’ Concluding with a broader reflection—something she has often articulated through her public interactions, the actor called for accountability and better planning in a growing metropolis. “I think as a metro, we need to think about civic planning and what we lack. What if someone had a medical emergency, what would they do? We need to address this. What do we do about this and who do we ask? I think as a citizen who is sincerely paying taxes and showing trust in the government, we deserve these answers.

The public emotion was amazing, there was nobody shouting, screaming and there were no quarrels. Many people had shut down their vehicle because there was fuel limitation. I feel resilience is not a virtue, but it is helplessness.”