veteran actor Paresh Rawal he has never been one to mince his words. While his acclaimed performances have earned him immense respect over the decades, his outspoken views on social media have often landed him in controversy. Looking back on those times, the actor admitted that his strong online presence did more harm than good. In a recent conversation, Paresh spoke about his temper, expressed regret for several of his tweets and revealed that his Twitter habit even affected his health.Talking about his nature, Paresh said in an interview with Vickey Lalwani, “Look, I have nothing to gain from anyone. I don’t want to bring anyone down. Greed doesn’t owe me. Whatever I have, I already feel that God has given me more than enough. So I have no greed. Why would he do such a thing to someone? That’s why I’m direct and honest with everyone.”The actor also revisited an earlier incident in which he admitted to hitting an audience member during a stage performance. Calling his behavior “idiotic”, he said he deeply regretted losing control. “Regarding that incident where I talked about hitting someone…what happened was that comments were made. There was comment after comment, even from other actors. It became a joke, and then I got carried away. It was idiotic. I jumped in. I was completely wrong. It happened, but I will never do it again. I’m sorry I really do. An artist should have control over himself and over the circumstances.”Reflecting on his controversial social media activity, Paresh acknowledged that one of his most criticized tweets, directed at the author. Arundhati Roy – should never have been published. “Yes, I wrote it. I shouldn’t do it. I shouldn’t have said that.”He revealed that he has now largely distanced himself from Twitter due to the toll it took on his mental and physical well-being. “Now I’ve almost stopped using Twitter because it was so bad for my health. It actually shot up my blood pressure. My doctor clearly told me: don’t watch the news channels before going to bed, and don’t read the newspapers until noon after I wake up. If there is any important news you need to know, it will find its way to you. You don’t have to sit there and get hyper about everything.”The actor admitted that he too played a role in contributing to the negativity often associated with social media. “A lot of people treat social media like their personal dumping ground, and I’m equally responsible for that. People write what’s on their mind because they have a platform. No one is listening, so just write it down. I never abuse people. My sarcasm is sharp enough. I will not reduce myself to using vulgar language. But even this sarcasm, I should not have delivered. There’s too much negativity and toxicity there.”Paresh also took a dig at film critic Anupama Chopra for her review of “Dhurandhar”. While he maintained his belief that the film deserved a more balanced discussion, he said that criticism should always be constructive. “I felt Dhurandhar was a well-made film. Some people will like it, some won’t, that’s perfectly fine. But then write about it. Give constructive criticism. That’s how it should be. Not the other way around. That’s what I felt was wrong.”Explaining why he had referred to Chopra as “Miss Irrelevant” in his post, the actor added: “Yes, but the truth is, no one is really listening to what you’re saying. You can write whatever you want, and it hardly changes anything. Instead, it turns into a cart. Well, they’re doing their job, that’s fine.”When asked about the online abuse and threats Chopra received after her tweet went viral, Paresh strongly condemned the behaviour. “That’s wrong. You can’t treat someone like that. She’s a lady, you know. She’s an educated, cultured woman. She’s Vikram Chandra’s sister, for God’s sake.”He also remembered the grace shown by both of them Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Anupama Chopra after the controversy, revealing that they later reached out to discuss their son’s work, the actor Aditya Rawal.Paresh Rawal was most recently seen in ‘Bhoot Bangla’.