Arjun Kapoor had everyone waiting for an hour before he arrived at a road safety awareness event hosted by the Delhi Traffic Police at India Gate on Tuesday evening. The actor, who has been shooting in Delhi with Shraddha Kapoor for 'Half Girlfriend', looked in quite a bit of a hurry to get back to his shoot, and even refused to wear a helmet when the traffic police requested him to.
Arjun says no to wearing a helmet
When the traffic cops asked Arjun to pose on a bike wearing a helmet, and then sit in a car and wear the seatbelt for pictures, the actor refused to do either, and said he'd rather just pose with the helmet. He told the annoyed camerapersons, "Shooting se aa raha hoon aur shoot par wapas jaana hai. Baal kharab ho jayenge." It was later that a traffic policeman told us, "He said that he's endorsing some automobile brand, and if his photos riding another vehicle come out, it'll create issues for him. We understood his concern and he posed with the helmet, which is fine. Visitors to India Gate who saw him came to see him, so our purpose of creating awareness about road safety was served."
We wear helmets in films, so why not follow that?
Arjun spoke on road safety and praised the traffic police's efforts. When a journalist asked him about films promoting stunt biking, he replied, "Insaan mein apna dimaag bhi thoda hota hai. We are taught things when we are growing up. Agar films se hi sab kuch seekhna hai, toh we'd have to shut down schools. Films are for entertainment and not for learning. For learning about road safety, you have driving schools and that's where people should learn, not from films." He added, "I don't ride a bike as my mom had asked me not to. I only ride in films. We have specially-bought helmets for our shoot. In 'Half Girlfriend', the unit has got helmets for Shraddha and I. Even in 'Ki & Ka', Kareena Kapoor and I wore seatbelts. In films, we wear helmets or seatbelts, so why can't people use them in real life?"
The Delhi Traffic Police has heavily cracked down on drunken driving in the last one month, and Arjun also urged people to not drink and drive. "You can call a taxi if you're drunk. There are so many apps on our phone. Things have become so much easier now."