Shobhaa De hails 'hero' P.V. Sindhu's Olympic feat

Mumbai:  Author Shobhaa De, who has been drawing flak for her unwarranted comments on the Indian contingent at the Rio Olympics, described shuttler P.V. Sindhu as "24 carat gold" and called her a "hero" after she clinched a silver medal at the event. De went out and about to praise Sindhu, who bagged the silver medal in the women's singles badminton competition of the Rio Olympics on Friday. "Bravo Sindhu. You are a hero," De wrote in one tweet, and followed it up by writing: "24 carat gold!!!! We love you." In a tweet on Saturday, she shared a news article featuring the success story of Sindhu, Dipa Karmakar and Sakshi Malik. "Rio ki Teen Deviyaan... respect," De captioned the link, and later suggested casting Deepika Padukone in a potential biopic on Sindhu. "P.V. Sindhu biopic. Who better than Deepika Padukone???" After her selfie tweet on India's delegates to Rio, De wrote on Thursday: "P.V. SINDHU Silver Princess?" Soon, she tried to salvage the situation by two new tweets. "Silver minted by Sindhu. Chandi ke baad Sona!!!" and the other "Go for gold, girl!!!" She was criticised for belittling Sindhu's achievement and betraying a defeatist mentality about Sindhu's chances against Marin in the final. Before this, De had slammed Indian athletes for their medal no-show at the Rio Olympics. "Goal of Team India at the Olympics: Rio jao (Go to Rio). Selfies lo (Take selfies). Khaali haat wapas aao (Return empty-handed). What a waste of money and opportunity. Only hope? Dependable Abhinav Bindra. Aim for gold, champion!" She was widely trolled for her comment.